V 


SIX  MONTHS 


IN 

THE  WEST  INDIES, 


IN 


182  5. 


NEW- YORK  : 


<?.  &  C.  CARVILL,  AND  E.  BLISS  &  E.  WHITE. 


Sleight  &  Tucker,  Printers,  Jamaica. 

1826. 


-v. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD . .  •  5 

MADEIRA . ^  . .  13 

CROSSING  THE  TROPIC . 38 

BARBADOS  * . 43 

TRINIDAD .  60 

GRENADA . I  . . * .  96 

st.  Vincent’s . 103 

ST.  LUCIA . . .  112 

BARBADOS .  123 

MARTINIQUE... .  127 

DOMINICA .  136 

MONTSERRAT . 152 

NEVIS . 172 

st.  Christopher’s . 187 

ANGUILLA .  201 

ANTIGUA . 216 

BARBUDA .  243 

BARBADOS .  255 

PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES . 274 

THE  END . 292 


1  **!«#•*  % _ _ _ _  : 


.  .  ;■/  ,  •>  —V  •  •• 

- 


SIX  MONTHS 


IN  THE 

WEST  INDIES. 


REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD. 

The  doctors  disagreed.  According  to  four  first- 
rate  opinions,  I  groaned  at  one  and  the  same  time 
under  rheumatism  proper,  rheumatic  gout,  gout 
proper,  and  an  affection  in  the  spinous  process. 
The  serious  signs  of  one  were  the  favourable 
symptoms  of  another,  and  the  prescriptions  of  the 
first  in  direct  oppugnancy  to  the  principles  of  the 
last.  To-day  1  was  to  drink  water  at  Buxton, 
the  morrow  to  drink  water  at  Bath,  on  Wednesday 
1  was  to  go  to  Italy,  and  on  Thursday  I  had  better 
stay  at  home. 

The  fact  was,  the  doctors  could  not  make  out 
my  case. 

Reader,  if  by  mischance  thou  art  one  of  those 
unhappy  persons  whom  the  climate  of  our  famous 
mother  England,  in  punishment  of  thy  many  sins 
in  chattering  French  instead  of  thy  kindly  verna- 

2 


6 


REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD* 


cular,  in  giving  half-a^guinea  to  Italians  instead  of 
three  shillings  and  sixpence  to  Britons,  in  cleaving 
to  wine  and  eschewing  beer,  hath  touched  with 
her  insular  cramp  in  shoulders,  elbows,  wrists,  fin¬ 
gers,  back,  loins,  knees,  ancles  or  toes. ..if  such 
be  the  case,  go  not,  I  entreat  thee  for  thy  good, 
to  any  of  the  faculty,  whether  physician,  surgeon, 
apothecary  or  druggist,  licensed  or  unlicensed: 
save  thy  good  coin,  gentle  rheumatic,  in  thy  purse 
for  better  merchandize  and  laissez  aller  les  choses  *, 
torment  not  the  creature  with  drenches  and  ban¬ 
dages,  and  peradventure  it  will  ache  thee  some 
months  the  less  for  being  entertained  civilly;  at 
all  events  thou  wilt  have  economized  so  much  mo¬ 
ney,  escaped  so  much  physic,  and  it  will  go  harder 
with  thee  than  with  any  body  else,  if  thou  get  not 
well  again  every  whit  as  soon. 

True  it  is,  though  I  speak  it  to  my  shame,  that 
1  did,  in  the  impatience  of  my  heart,  betake  my¬ 
self  to  medicine  for  relief.  It  was  promised  to  me 
abundantly.  I  am  ready  to  communicate  to  any 
earnest  inquirer,  twenty  and  five  infallible  prescrip¬ 
tions,  every  one  of  which  has  effected  so  many 
cures,  that  it  is  somewhat  surprizing  that  the  com¬ 
bined  action  of  all  of  them  together  has  not,  a  long 
time  ago  driven  rheumatism  clean  out  of  the  Uni¬ 
ted  Kingdom.  1  never  met  with  any  of  these  re¬ 
deemed  ones,  but,  as  Sancho  says,  he,  who  told  me 
the  story,  said  that  it  was  so  certain  and  true,  that 


REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD. 


7 


1  might  well,  whenever  I  told  it  to  another,  affirm 
and  swear  that  1  had  seen  them  all  myself.  There 
was,  indeed,  no  resisting  the  kindness  of  my  friends  : 
I  was  all  things  to  all  men  and  to  all  women ;  I  ale 
this  to  please  my  cousin  Lucy,  and  drank  that  to 
oblige  my  cousin  Margaret;  I  was  steamed  by  one, 
showered  by  another,  just  escaped  needling  by  a 
third,  and  was  nearly  boiled  to  the  consistency  of  a 
pudding  for  the  love  of  an  oblong  gentleman  of 
Ireland,  who  had  cured  so  many  of  his  tenants  on 
a  bog  in  Tipperary  by  that  process,  that  he  offered 
to  stake  his  salvation  upon  the  success  of  the  expe¬ 
riment.  It  failed,  and,  the  article  not  being  trans¬ 
ferable,  I  forgave  him  the  debt. 

I  mentioned  my  two  cousins  above  ;  I  wish  you 
knew  them,  reader;  your  state  would  be  the  more 
gracious,  but  I  will  introduce  them  to  you  in  five 
minutes.  They  are  sisters,  well  stricken  in  years, 
and  for  more  than  half  their  lives  have  lived  within 
hail  of  each  other.  Kinder  souls,  I  dare  say, 
never  humanized  the  rugged  humours  of  a  mar¬ 
ket  town  by  their  guardian  residence ;  doing  good 
really  seems  the  business  of  their  existence.  Ge¬ 
nuine  old  school  are  they  to  the  heels  of  their 
shoes ;  notable  housewives  in  keeping  the  outside 
and  the  inside  of  the  platter  clean ;  so  keen  in 
cheapening  a  dinner,  that  our  itinerant  fishmonger 
must  have  abandoned  his  calling  with  loss,  had 
he  not  with  great  skill  and  secrecy  opened  a  coun- 


8 


REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD. 


termine ;  for  perceiving  that  no  emergency  of  fast, 
no  necessity  of  feast,  could  ever  induce  my  cou¬ 
sins  to  give  more  than  a  half  of  what  he  demand¬ 
ed  for  his  commodities,  his  pregnant  invention  led 
him  to  ask  just  twice  as  much  at  first  as  he  intend¬ 
ed  to  take  at  last ;  the  ladies,  not  knowing  either 
the  real  or  the  market  price  of  the  exotics,  are 
perfectly  satisfied  in  their  consciences  when  they 
have  openly  reduced  the  enemy  to  a  moiety,  and 
thus  by  this  simple  and  ingenious  scheme  of  com¬ 
merce,  the  interests  of  all  parties  are  reconciled, 
the  fishmonger  thrives,  my  cousinhood  is  content, 
and  I  get  as  much  fish  as  a  somewhat  robust  appe¬ 
tite  can  manage  to  entertain. 

But  with  all  the  manifold  virtues  which  adorn 
the  characters  of  my  dear  cousins,  a  scrupulous 
adherence  to  truth  forces  me  to  say,  (and  I  know 
them  too  well  to  fear  their  taking  the  remark  ill,) 
that  they  cherish  one  presumptuous  sin,  one  stain 
of  the  Fall,. ..which  seems  to  be  as  much  the  dar¬ 
ling  passion  of  autumnal  womanhood,  as  personal 
distinction  is  of  girls,  and  charitable  conversation 
of  elderly  young  females  in  general.  I  would  say 
that  my  two  relations  have  more  than  their  just 
share  of  that  strange  humour,  which  craves  the 
infliction  of  physic  on  the  human  race,  of  that  lust 
for  rhubarb  and  magnesia,  which  neither  ridicule, 
remonstrance,  or  casual  homicide  can  utterly  abo¬ 
lish  or  destroy  from  the  anile  bosom.  The  bold- 


REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD. 


9 


ness  of  their  practice  is  unequal.  Lucy,  who  upon 
these  occasions  never  forgets  that  she  is  the  widow 
of  a  medical  man,  confesses  a  hankering  after  calo¬ 
mel  ;  Margaret  is  also  willing,  but  a  soft  temper  and 
the  recollection  of  two  strengthening  plasters,  as 
she  called  them,  which  she  administered  to  herself 
with  the  best  intentions  at  the  commencement  of  a 
fever,  have  much  abated  her  courage.  She  is  a 
very  serious  woman,  and  in  my  opinion,  has  never 
wholly  lost  the  impression  made  upon  her  mind  on 
the  first  morning  of  her  recovery  from  the  kisses  of 
the  cantharides,  when  going,  like  Don  Quixote  to 
his  book-room,  to  visit  her  beloved  medicine  chest, 
she  found,  indeed,  that  precious  receptacle  safe, 
but  with  this  appalling  superscription  imprinted  on 
it,  “  The  Cave  of  Death.”  A  relation  of  mine,  a 
notable  wag,  was  the  author  of  this  piece  of  wit ; 
and  to  this  day  my  good  cousin  cannot  hear  it  men¬ 
tioned  with  perfect  equanimity. 

The  poor  of  the  parish,  twenty  or  thirty  of  whom 
are  in  constant  patience  upon  one  or  other  of  these 
ladies,  have  their  praises  ever  on  their  lips  ;  not 
altogether,  I  imagine,  on  account  of  the  medical 
advice  which  they  receive,  but  partly  perhaps  in 
grateful  acknowledgement  of  certain  accompani¬ 
ments  of  broth,  beef,  mutton,  wine,  cider,  &c.  which 
they  rarely  fail  to  obtain  at  the  same  time  from  the 
same  hands ;  the  wise  pauper  balances  the  evil  with 
the  good,  and  learns  to  set  a  good  dinner  against  a 


10  REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD. 


black  dose.  Formerly  indeed  it  is  believed  that 
some  ungracious  spirits  took  the  meat  but  did  not 
take  the  physic  ;  to  prevent  which  practice  for  the 
future  my  cousins  insisted  that  the  drugs  should  be 
drunken  in  their  presence,  just  as  man-of-war’s 
men  must  swallow  six-water  grog  on  deck  before 
the  officer  on  watch.  Now,  whether  it  be  the 
medicine  or  the  dinners  I  know  not,  but  certain  it 
is  that  my  cousins’  patients  are  blessed  with  uncom¬ 
mon  longevity  ;  some  of  the  old  women  in  particular 
are  so  immortal  that  a  very  respectable  overseer 
could  not  forbear  saying,  that  though  he  approved 
of  charity  and  almsgiving  sub  modo,  yet  this  was 
really  carrying  the  matter  a  little  too  far;  it  was 
making  the  present  generation  sustain  not  the  indi¬ 
gent  and  old  of  their  own  times  only,  but  those  of 
past  ages  also. 

Be  that  as  it  may — 

Pious  and  humble  women !  your  errors  are  for¬ 
given  on  earth,  your  silent  virtues  recorded  in 
Heaven  by  Him  who  sees  in  secret.  Long,  long 
may  you  live  to  mitigate  the  distresses  of  suffering 
humanity  around  you,  and  may  you  have  no  heavier 
charge  to  answer  hereafter  than  that  of  having  kept 
a  score  or  two  of  old  souls  a  burthen  on  the  parish- 
rate  a  few  years  longer  than  hunger  and  sorrow 
would  otherwise  have  ordered  it ! 

If  this  little  book  had  been  one  of  the  thousaud 
and  one  journals  of  tours  in  France  or  Italy  or 


REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD.  11 


Switzerland  ;  or  if  it  had  been  a  true  and  authentic 
history  of  Loo-Choo,  of  the  Ashantees,  or  of  a 
Polar  expedition,  I  should  not  have  taken  the  trou¬ 
ble  of  writing  this  preliminary  chapter.  But  the 
West  Indies  are  quite  another  thing.  I  have  seen 
men  set  down  as  fanatics  or  tyrants  before  their 
speech  has  been  listened  to,  and  as  I  have  a  credible 
anxiety  for  the  sale  of  my  work,  it  imports  me  much 
that  I  should  make  myself  well  understood  on  this 
head.  I  do  not  wish  any  one  to  entertain  a  good 
opinion  of  me,  but  I  shall  feel  deeply  indebted  to 
any  person  who  will  be  kind  enough  to  have  no 
opinion  whatever  of  me  or  about  me.  I  am  in  per¬ 
fect  charity  with  all  mankind,  that  is  to  say,  I  care 
infinitely  nothing  about  any  of  them,  except  some 
dozen  and  a  half  good  folks  of  my  own  sort.  I  bow 
to  the  African  Institution,. .  .they  do  their  work, 
as  is  fitting,  in  a  truly  African  manner ;  I  bend  as 
low  to  the  Planters,. .  .they  are  a  trifle  choleric  or 
so,  but  I  remember  that  the  nerves  become  exces¬ 
sively  irritable  under  the  rays  of  a  vertical  sun.  I 
protest  in  print  that  I  had  not  the  honour  to  travel 
as  an  agent  of  either  of  these  amicable  societies.  I 
went  simply  and  sheerly  on  my  own  account,  or 
rather  on  account  of  the  aforesaid  rheumatism  ; 
for  as  every  other  sort  of  chemical  action  had  failed, 
I  was  willing  to  try  if  fusion  would  succeed.  This 
was  my  main  reason  for  going  abroad,  to  which 
perhaps  I  must  add  a  certain  vagabond  humour 


12  REASONS  FOR  GOING  ABROAD. 


which  I  inherited  from  my  mother.  If  Yorick 
had  written  after  me,  he  would  have  mentioned  the 
Rheumatic  Traveller.  This  book  is  rheumatic 
from  beginning  to  end ;  all  its  peculiarities,  its 
diverse  affections,  its  irregular  spirits  flow  from  that 
respectable  source.  I  picked  up  so  plentiful  a  lack 
of  science  at  Eton,  the  first  of  all  schools,  and  at 
Cambridge,  the  first  of  all  universities,  except 
the  London,  that  no  one  need  be  of  my  opinion 
unless  he  likes  it.  I  rarely  argue  a  matter  unless 
my  shoulders  or  knees  ache  ;  and  if  I  should  have 
the  misfortune  upon  any  such  occasion  to  be  over¬ 
earnest  with  any  of  my  readers,  I  trust  they  will 
think  it  is  my  rheumatism  that  chides,  leave  me  so, 
and  peacefully  pass  on  to  the  next  chapter. 


MADEIRA. 


Imaginative  reader !  have  you  ever  been  in  a  gale 
of  wind  on  the  edge  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay  ?  If  not, 
and  you  are  fond  of  variety,  it  is  really  worth  your 
while  to  take  a  trip  to  Lisbon  or  Madeira  for  the 
chance  of  meeting  with  one.  Calculate  your  sea¬ 
son  well  in  December  or  January,  when  the  south- 
wester  has  properly  set  in,  and  you  will  find  it  one 
of  the  finest  and  most  uncomfortable  things  in  the 
world.  My  gale  lasted  from  Sunday  till  Wednesday 
evening,  which  is  something  long  perhaps  for  amuse¬ 
ment,  but  it  gave  ample  room  for  observation  and 
philosophy.  I  think  I  still  hear  that  ineffable  hub¬ 
bub  of  plates  and  glasses  breaking,  chairs  and  tables 
falling,  women  screaming,  sailors  piping,  officers 
swearing,  the  wind  whistling,  and  the  sea  roaring, 
which  awakened  me  about  two  o’clock  on  Monday 
morning  from  one  of  those  sweet  dreams,  wherein, 
through  infinite  changes  and  indistinct  combinations 
of  imagery,  thy  loved  form,  Eugenia,  for  ever  pre¬ 
vails  in  its  real  and  natural  beauty.  The  Atlantic 
was  gushing  in  through  my  port  in  a  very  refreshing 
manner,  and  ebbing  and  flowing  under  and  around 


14 


MADEIRA. 


my  bed  with  every  roll  of  the  ship.  My  clothes 
were  floating  on  the  face  of  the  waters.^  I  turned 
to  sleep  again,  but  the  sea  came  with  that  awful 
dead  sledge-hammer  beat,  which  makes  a  landsman’s 
heart  tremble,  and  the  impertinent  quotation  of 
some  poor  scholar  in  the  next  cabin  about  quatuor 
aut  septem  digitos  brushed  every  atom  of  Morphic 
dust  from  my  eyes.  I  sat  bolt  upright,  and  for 
some  time  contemplated,  by  the  glimmering  of  the 
sentry’s  lantern,  the  huge  disarray  of  my  pretty 
den  ;  I  fished  for  my  clothes,  but  they  were  bath¬ 
ing  ;  I  essayed  to  rise,  but  1  could  find  no  resting- 
place  for  the  sole  of  a  rheumatic  foot.  However, 
I  was  somewhat  consoled  by  a  sailor  who  came  to 
bale  out  the  water  at  day-break  ;. . .  “  a  fine  breeze, 
Sir,  only  it’s  dead  on  end  for  us;  and  to  be  sure,  I 
minds  the  Apollo  and  thirty-two  marchmantmen 
were  lost  somewhere  in  these  here  parts.”  It  was 
kindly  meant  of  Jack,  no  doubt,  though  he  was  out 
in  his  latitude  by  eight  degrees  at  least. 

I  think  I  never  shall  forget  the  scene  of  beauty 
and  terror  which  presented  itself  to  me  on  deck. 
Every  thing,  indeed,  becomes  tame  by  long  fami¬ 
liarity,  and  the  old  mariner  has  no  eye  for  any  thing 
in  a  gale  except  his  topmasts  ;  but  to  the  fr$sh  and 
apprehensive  mind  what  is  there  on  land  so  un¬ 
speakably  grand  as  a  storm  on  the  ocean  ?  The 
lone  ship  under  treble  reefed  topsails  and  staysails 
lay  groaning  like  a  gigantic  skeleton  in  agony  ;  a 


3IADEIRA. 


15 


dreadful  hedge  or  wall  of  waters  confined  the  hori¬ 
zon  to  a  lmndred  yards  around  us  ;  the  sea  as  black 
as  death,  save  when,  as  each  enormous  wave  arose 
on  high,  the  furious  blast  caught  up  its  long  crest  of 
foam,  and  dashed  it  into  atoms  of  smoky  mist.  The 
sun  also  shone  out  with  a  wild  appearance  at  inter¬ 
vals,  and  the  rays  of  light,  refracted  by  the  spray- 
shower,  formed  themselves  into  fairy  arches  of  pris¬ 
matic  coloring  in  every  direction  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  On  Tuesday  the  wind  lulled  for 
some  time,  but  at  night  it  blew  again  as  before ; 
and  on  Wednesday  we  had  a  succession  of  squalls 
at  intervals  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  each  sharper 
than  the  other,  which  exceeded  in  violence  any 
thing  I  could  have  imagined.  Under  the  last  of 
them  the  top-gallant  masts  quivered  like  reeds,  the 
shrouds  gave  music  like  Eolian  harps,  and  the  eyes 
of  the  silent  veterans  were  fixed  anxiously  aloft. 
It  was  the  dying  blast  of  Africus  ;  the  rain  came 
down  in  torrents,  the  wind  fell,  and  we  were  left  at 
the  mercy  of  a  dead  mountainous  swell  of  a  furlong 
in  length,  which  put  the  good  ship  almost  on  her 
beam  ends. 

Buonaparte  had  the  credit  of  saying  that  there 
was  but  one  step  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridicu¬ 
lous  ;  there  were  precisely  seven  on  board  His 
Majesty’s  ship.  On  deck  all  was  terrible  or  lovely, 
in  the  cabin  every  thing  was  absurd  or  disgusting. 
It  is  idle  to  attempt  the  description,  for  the  thing 


16 


MADEIRA. 


has  been  done  before ;  carpets  cut  up,  water  dash¬ 
ing  to  and  fro,  dead  lights  in,  a  lack-lustre  lamp, 
sea-pye,  men  and  women  hungry  and  thirsty  and 
nauseatic,  projections  of  plates,  chairs,  knives,  ser¬ 
vants,  soup,  wives  together  with  husbands  and  all 
other  appurtenances  under  a  lee  lurch,  ill-humour, 
hatred,  vomiting,  malice,  and  all  uncharitableness, 
formed  the  grand  features  of  the  picture.  I  cannot 
go  on  with  the  details ;  mens  refugit ;  I  dislike 
dwelling  on  the  infirmities  of  humanity. 

The  wind  came  round  fair,  the  sea  fell  smooth, 
the  sun  shone  brightly,  the  sky  was  without  a  cloud 
for  a  week  afterwards,  and  on  the  last  day  of  1824 
we  made  and  passed  Porto  Santo,  and,  shrouded  in 
clouds,  Madeira  rose  before  us. 

O  Madeira,  Madeira,  O  thou  gem  of  the  ocean, 
thou  paradise  of  the  Atlantic  !  I  have  no  heart  to 
take  up  my  pen  to  write  of  the  days  which  I  spent 
in  thee  ;  surely  they  were  days  of  enchantment 
intercalated  in  the  year  of  common  reality,  ethe- 
rial  moments  islanded,  like  thyself,  in  the  vast  sea 
of  time  !  Dear  England!  thou  art  a  noble  country, 
wise,  powerful,  and  virtuous. .  .but  thou  hast  no 
such  purple  waves  as  those  which  swell  towards 
Funchal ;  thou  hast  no  such  breezes  of  intoxication 
as  those  which  then  fanned  my  cheek  and  carried 
animation  to  my  heart ;  thou  hast  no  over-arched 
avenues  of  vines,  no  golden  clusters  of  orange  and 
lemon,  no  quintas,  no  Corral  ?  I  felt,  for  the  first 


MADEIRA. 


17 


time,  but  it  passed  away  soon,  a  wish  to  live  and 
die  far  from  my  native  country ;  it  seemed  for  a 
moment  that  it  would  be  poetical  happiness  to 
dwell  with  one  loved  companion  amidst  these  quiet 
mountains,  and  gaze  at  evening  on  the  lovely  sea 
and  the  lone  Dezertas  on  the  horizon.  I  did  not 
choose  any  of  the  gay  and  luxurious  houses  which 
adorn  the  bosom  ot  the  amphitheatre  above  the 
town  ;  I  admired,  like  all  the  world,  their  perfect 
elegance  and  glorious  prospect,  but  they  did  not  fill 
my  heart  with  that  fondness  which  1  felt  for  one 
simple  mansion  in  the  distant  parish  of  Camacha. 
1  often  hear  the  brawling  brook  at  night,  and  think 
myself  seated  on  the  bench  of  green  turf,  drinking 
that  cool  bottle  of  wine,  with  a  view  of  Rosa  and 
the  pretty  church  beyond.  If  the  ancients  had 
known  Madeira,  it  would  have  been  their  plusquam 
fortunata  insula,  and  the  blessed  spirits  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles,  after  a  millennium  of  probationary  enjoyment 
in  the  Canaries,  would  have  been  translated  thither 
to  live  for  ever  on  nectar  and  oranges. 

Pour  toujours 
Ce  rivage 

Est  sans  nuit  et  sans  orage. 

Pour  toujours 
Cette  aurore 
Fait  £clore 
Nos  beaux  jours. 

3 


18 


MADEIRA. 


C’est  le  pprt 
De  la  vie ; 

C’est  le  sort 
Qu’on  envie. 

lie  monde  et  ses  faux  attraits. 

Sont-ils  faits 
Pour  nos  regrets  ? 

Non,  jamais ! 

Lieux  propices, 

V ous  n’offrez  que  des  delices ! 

Non,  jamais ! 

Cet  empire 
Ne  respire 
Que  la  paix. 

I  should  think  the  situation  of  Madeira  the  most 
enviable  on  the  whole  earth.  It  ensures  almost 
every  European  comfort,  together  with  almost 
every  tropical  luxury.  Any  degree  of  tempera¬ 
ture  may  be  enjoyed  between  Funchal  and  the  Ice 
House.  The  seasons  are  the  youth,  maturity,  and 
old  age  of  a  never  ending,  still  beginning  spring. 
Here  I  found  what  I  used  to  suppose  peculiar  to 
the  Garden  of  Eden  and  the  bowers  of  Acrasie  and 
Armida : — 

Blossoms  and  fruits  at  once  of  golden  hue 
Appear’d,  with  gay  enamell’d  colors  mix’d. 

The  myrtle,  the  geranium,  the  rose,  and  the  vio¬ 
let,  grow  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left  in  the 
boon  prodigality  of  primitive  nature.  The  gera- 


MADEIRA. 


19 


nium,  in  particular,  is  so  common,  that  the  honey 
of  the  bees  becomes  something  like  a  jelly  of  that 
flower.  I  differ  from  most  people  in  not  liking  it 
so  well  as  the  English  honey,  though  it  is  far  purer 
and  more  transparent.  That  of  Barbados  is  finer 
than  either.  Perhaps  after  having  been  within  ten 
degrees  of  the  equator,  a  second  visit  to  Madeira 
would  not  charm  me  so  deeply  as  the  first ;  I  have 
seen  ocean  and  sky  of  a  still  brighter  hue,  and  trees 
and  flowers  and  mountains  of  still  more  beautiful 
and  awful  shapes.  But  I  left  England  in  Decem¬ 
ber,  shivering  and  melancholy  under  a  rain  of  two 
months  continuance ;  foul  winds,  eternal  tacking, 
a  tremendous  gale  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay  destroyed 
my  spirits  and  increased  my  rheumatism  ;  so  that  I 
longed  after  Madeira  as  for  a  land  of  promise,  and 
the  first  sight  of  Porto  Santo,  with  its  scattered 
islets,  its  broken  rocks,  and  verdant  dells,  filled  my 
heart  with  that  joy  which  no  one  can  feel  who  has 
not  made  a  voyage  on  the  ocean. 

Hallamonos  cerquita  de  muy  ledo 
Puerto  hermoso  y  lleno  de  frescura, 

De  arboles,  naranjos  et  frutales, 

Bastante  de  sanar  a  dos  mil  males. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  January, 
1825,  we  came  slowly  into  the  Bay  of  Funchal. 
The  town,  the  country-houses,  and  Nossa  Sen- 
hora  do  Monte  glistered  like  silver  through  the 


20 


MADEIRA. 


thin  mist  which  floated  on  the  bosom  of  the  moun¬ 
tains.  The  bells  of  many  churches  soon  began  to 
hail  the  new  year  with  that  blessed  sound,  which 
mariners,  beyond  all  others,  love  to  hear.  The 
guns  of  salute  roared  from  our  ship,  and  the  Ilheo 
or  Loo  Rock  answered  them  across  the  water.  A 
clumsy  boat  with  four  dark  Madeiran  rowers  con¬ 
veyed  me  to  the  shore,  and  when  I  touched  it,  I  felt 
a  force,  which  1  had  not  felt  before,  in  the 

Egressi  optata  Troes  potiuntur  arena. 

The  hospitality  of  the  English  merchants  in 
Maderia  is  princely.  You  cannot  bring  too  many, 
you  cannot  stay  too  long.  The  houses  of  all  are 
open  to  the  guests  of  each,  and  I  never  met  with 
less  kindness  from  Stoddart,  because  I  had  shown 
a  preference  for  Gordon.  I  am  loth  to  believe 
that  they  look  upon  us  only  as  customers,  although 
they  lead  vehemently  into  temptation,  by  Malmsey, 
Tinta,  and  Sercial,  and  bid  you  remember  the  old 
house,  when  they  shake  hands  with  you  at  parting. 
There  was  a  generality  of  intelligence,  an  inde¬ 
pendence  of  spirit,  and  a  courteousness  of  manner 
about  those  whom  I  saw,  which  seemed  the  effect 
and  the  symptom  of  great  opulence  and  unimpeach¬ 
able  credit.  They  have  no  huckstering,  shop-keep¬ 
ing,  agency  taint :  they  are  true  descendants  (1 
was  going  to  say  remnants)  of  that  grand  charac¬ 
ter,  the  English  merchant  of  former  times.  Their 


MADEIRA. 


21 


information  indeed  with  regard  to  certain  islands, 
which  are  laid  down  by  geographers,  more  or  less 
in  their  neighbourhood,  is  remarkably  narrow.  I 
can  state  it,  however,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
scientific,  as  the  result  of  much  inquiry,  that  there 
art  such  islands  as  Teneriffe,  Palma,  and  Fayal, 
and  that  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  position 
usually  assigned  to  them  in  the  charts  is  correct ; 
at  the  same  time  there  is  so  little,  or  I  may  say,  no 
intercourse  between  them  and  Madeira,  that  whe¬ 
ther  they  are  round  or  square,  whether  they  are 
one  hundred,  or  one  thousand  leagues  off,  whether 
they  make  wine  or  beer,  are  matters  of  much 
doubt.  Yellow  fever,  it  also  appears,  rages  in 
some,  and  the  plague  in  others ;  the  wine,  if  it  can 
be  called  wine,  is,  according  to  a  few  enterprizing 
merchant-adventurers,  so  detestable,  that  the  small¬ 
est  admixture  of  it  would  infallibly  spoil  forty  times 
its  quantity  of  the  true  old  London  Particular; 
so  that  all  the  idle  stories  which  we  hear  igno¬ 
rantly  handed  about  in  England  of  wine  from 
Fayal  and  Teneriffe  being  re-exported  from  Ma¬ 
deira  as  the  genuine  production  of  the  latter 
island,  are  without  question  entirley  false.  And 
such  being  the  case,  it  is  truly  wonderful  that  a  spot 
comparatively  so  inconsiderable  should  be  able  to 
supply  the  enormous  demand  for  the  wine  called 
Madeira,  from  England,  the  European  continent, 
the  West  Indies,  and  both  Americas. 

3* 


MADEIRA. 


22 

The  town  of  Funchal  stretches  along  the  mar¬ 
gin  of  the  bay  for  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half,  but  it  is 
barely  a  third  of  that  size  in  breadth  in  any  part. 
It  is  by  no  means  so  dirty  as  the  Portugueze  like, 
but  the  English  residents  are  so  influential  here, 
that  they  have  been  able  to  exercise  a  tyranny  of 
cleanliness,  which  the  natives  sullenly  endure  at 
the  hazard  of  catching  colds.  The  cathedral  is  a 
fine  building,  the  furniture  of  the  altar  and  lateral 
shrines  very  rich  in  gold,  silver,  and  pearls,  and 
fresh  roses  were  hanging  in  chaplets  and  festoons 
over  and  around  the  idols.  There  is  no  ceiling,  but 
the  roof,  formed  of  unpainted  beams  of  wood,  is 
visible  as  in  some  of  our  old  parish  churches  in 
England,  and  the  floor  consists  of  nothing  but  loose 
planks,  which  are  continually  removed  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  depositing  the  corpses  of  the  dead  below. 
This  vile  practice  I  observed  in  other  churches  in 
the  island,  and  it  is  wonderful  in  such  a  climate, 
that  it  does  not  destroy  the  worshippers,  as  it  im¬ 
pairs  the  beauty  and  solemnity  of  the  place  of  wor¬ 
ship.  Before  the  western  door  of  the  cathedral  is 
a  parvis  or  open  space,  and  beyond  that,  the  Ter- 
reiro  da  Se,  a  very  pleasant  promenade,  under  four 
or  five  parallel  rows  of  trees,  and  inclosed  by  a 
wall  a  few  feet  in  height.  Some  nice  houses  are 
situated  in  the  street  on  either  hand,  from  the  bal¬ 
conies  of  which  the  ladies  looked  at  the  gentlemen 
below :  and  in  particular  there  is,  what  the  Spa¬ 
niards  call,  a  beaterio  or  make-believe  nunnery  on 


MADEIRA. 


23 


the  north  side,  the  windows  of  which  were  literally 
crammed  full  of  the  meek  faces  of  some  score  pro¬ 
bationers  for  single  blessedness.  There  was  not 
a  pretty  girl  amongst  them.  Beyond  the  Terreiro 
you  come  to  a  neat  market-place,  and  to  a  large 
mass  of  building,  which  was  formerly  a  convent  of 
Franciscans,  I  think  ;  half  of  it  at  present  is  convert¬ 
ed  into  barracks  and  guard -rooms,  and  the  rest  is 
still  retained  by  the  friars.  Their  church  is  uncom¬ 
monly  fine  in  its  interior  proportions,  and  must 
have  been  very  imposing  in  the  days  of  its  splen¬ 
dour.  Those  days  are  gone.  Dirt,  silence,  and 
misery  were  conspicuous  through  ignorance  and 
superstition.  The  friars  looked  wretched,  and  one 
poor  fellow  without  shoes  or  shirt  moved  my  com¬ 
passion  to  that  degree,  that  I  conferred  a  pistorine 
upon  him.  He  seemed  as  grateful  as  if  I  had  taught 
him  to  read  his  breviary,  which  he  confessed  to  me 
he  could  not  do.  There  was  some  time  ago  a 
chapel  here,  as  1  understood  it,  entirely  constructed 
of  human  skulls,  but  upon  inquiry  I  found  it  was 
destroyed  or  removed. 

The  Portugueze  ladies  in  Madeira  never  wrash 
their  faces,  and  complain  that  the  English  destroy 
their  fine  complexions  by  too  much  water.  Dry 
rubbing  is  the  thing.  If  you  intend  to  visit  a  female, 
you  send  notice  over  night,  and  then  she  puts  on  her 
corset  and  dresses  herself  as  if  for  a  ball.  So  you 
meet  them  in  the  streets,  lying  in  their  palanquins, 


24 


MADEIRA. 


with  one  pretty  ancle  hanging  outside,  and  in  rich 
evening  costume. 

A  man  ought  to  have  more  phlegm  in  his  consti¬ 
tution  than  I  have,  to  travel  with  serenity  in  Maderia. 
When  you  intend  to  make  an  excursion,  you  send 
a  servant  to  the  corner  of  the  street  to  summon  the 
muleteers  ;  at  the  word,  down  they  come  scamper¬ 
ing  to  your  door,  men  and  boys,  horses,  mules,  and 
ponies.  Some  friends  of  mine  were  going  with  me 
to  Cavalhar’s  villa,  and  the  moment  we  put  our 
noses  out  of  the  court-yard,  a  regular  fight  began. 
Three  men  laid  hold  of  me  by  main  force ;  my  left 
leg  was  mounted  on  a  mule,  my  right  stretched 
across  a  horse,  and  the  bridle  of  a  pony  thrust  into 
my  hand.  I  swore  as  became  me,  but  unfortunately 
for  my  influence  in  the  world,  I  have  such  an  ungo¬ 
vernable  tendency  to  laughter  upon  the  most  solemn 
occasions,  that  all  I  could  do  or  say  excited  neither 
remorse  or  terror  in  these  fellows.  I  succeeded  at 
length  in  righting  myself  and  sheered  off  on  the 
horse.  When  we  were  well  seated,  the  vara  in 
hand  and  all  ready,  u  whoo  !”  whistled  our  natives  ; 
“  whoo !”  whistled  all  the  natives  in  the  neighbour¬ 
hood;  the  muleteers  caught  hold  of  the  tails  by 
their  left  hands,  and  began  to  goad  the  flanks  of  the 
animals  with  a  small  pike  in  their  right ;  “  Cara, 
cara,  cavache,  caval,5’  shouted  they,  which  fairly 
started  us,  and  away  we  went  at  full  gallop  through 
the  pebble-paved  streets,  the  horses  kicking,  the 


MADEIRA, 


25 


hoofs  clattering,  the  men  singing  and  screaming  and 
goading,  and  the  old  women  running  out  of  our  way 
as  fast  as  they  could.  I  was  so  convulsed  with 
laughter  at  the  unspeakable  absurdity  of  the  scene, 
that  I  consider  it  a  very  great  mercy  that  I  neither 
killed  myself  nor  any  body  else.  The  roads  too  out 
of  the  town  are  entirely  paved  causeways  for  horses 
and  palanquins,  and  to  ascend  them  is  well  enough  ; 
but  realy  to  ride  down  many  parts  of  them  is  fright- 
ful.  If  you  attempt  to  keep  a  tight  hand  upon  the 
curb,  the  muleteer  always  pulls  the  reign  slack  with 
a  “  Larga,  Senhor so  that  you  must  resign  your¬ 
self  to  your  fate  in  patience.  The  certainty  with 
which  the  mules,  ponies,  and  horses  tread  these 
precipices  is  amazing;  a  fall  upon  the  paved  ways 
is  very  rare.  In  returning  indeed  from  the  Corral, 
a  horse  threw  me  like  a-shot  between  some  sharp 
masses  of  rock  ;  I  was  much  shaken,  but  providen¬ 
tially  not  materially  bruised.  The  strength  of  the 
muleteers  and  porters  is  very  surprizing;  they  will 
run  thirty  miles  by  your  side  with  ease,  helping 
themselves  on  by  the  friendly  horse-tails,  and  I  re¬ 
member  two  youths  carrying  a  lady  in  a  palanquin 

to  Dom - Cavalhar’s  house,  which  is  five  or  six 

miles  right  up  the  breast  of  a  very  steep  mountain, 
and  keeping  ahead  of  our  horses  the  whole  way. 
The  palanquin  is  a  neat  cot  with  curtains  and 
pillows,  swung  from  a  single  pole  ;  one  bearer  is  in 
front,  the  other  behind,  and  the  pole  passes  over  the 


26 


MADEIRA. 


left  shoulder  of  one  and  the  right  of  the  other,  and 
they  each  have  a  staff  placed  at  right  angles  under 
the  pole,  upon  which  they  rest  the  unoccupied  arm 
and  preserve  a  steady  balance. 

We  had  a  most  delightful  ramble  about  the 
grounds  of  this  celebrated  villa ;  and  strolled 
through  avenues  of  green  and  golden  oranges,  and 
gazed  at  the  blue  sea  through  a  thousand  openings 
in  the  foliage.  The  house  is  very  elegant,  the 
chapel  classical,  and  the  summer-house  at  a  little 
distance  commands  a  most  magnificent  prospect  of 
the  varied  scenery  below. 

In  returning  more  quietly  through  the  town,  I 
saw  that  happen  to  others  which  had  not  happened 
to  me.  Some  of  the  midshipmen  being  on  shore, 
had  been  making  themselves  amends  for  spare  living 
and  hard  watching  during  the  gale,  as  they  had  a 
clear  right  to  do  :  then  they  must  ride,  and  were 
started  of  course  in  the  manner  which  I  have  de¬ 
scribed.  As  the  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms 
would  order  it,  at  the  angle  of  a  street  which  they 
were  doubling  they  met  the  Bishop  of  Madeira  in 
his  palanquin ;  the  two  foremost  weathered  him, 
and  bore  away,  the  two  hindmost  came  athwart 
hawse  upon  his  lordship,  threw  him  upon  his  beam 
ends,  and  themselves  went  down  head  foremost  in 
the  mud.  This  had  like  to  have  been  a  sad  busi¬ 
ness  with  these  young  gentlemen,  but  Dom  Frei 
Joaquim  de  Menezes  Ataide  not  being  hurt,  and 


MADEIRA. 


27 


knowing  the  land  privileges  of  His  Majesty’s  naval 
officers,  hoped  there  was  no  limb  broken,  got  into 
his  seat  again,  and  wished  them  a  good  evening ; 
which  was  very  kind  of  the  bishop,  who  is  indeed 
a  good  man  and  much  respected  in  his  diocese.* 

*  The  name  of  the  Bishop  puts  me  in  mind  of  his 
protege  the  great  poet  of  Madeira.  Francisco  de  Paula 
Medina  e  Vasconcellos  has  written  an  epic  poem,  enti¬ 
tled  Georgeida,  the  subject  of  which  is  the  Peninsular 
war.  I  recommend  the  book  to  Mr.  Southey’s  notice, 
if  he  is  not  already  in  possession  of  it.  If  the  fame  of 
our  soldiers  does  not  survive  to  posterity,  it  will  not  be 
for  want  of  a  bard.  He  speaks  of  the  battle  of  Coruna 
in  this  strain  : 

Memoravel  Combate,  ah  !  tu  das  honra 
A’  Na£ad  Immortal,  que  doma  os  Mares. 

Sim  John  Moore  morreo,  mas  nao  morrerao 
A  sua  Gloria  e  Nome,  que  aos  Yindouros 
Encherao  de  prazer,  e  enthusiasmo. 

Ah !  e  quantos  Heroes  com  seu  exemplo 
Por  inclitas  ac9oes  em  ti  brilharao  ! 

Eu  la  vejo  John  Hope  commandando 
Em  sua  falta  o  Exercito  Britanno 
Com  acerto,  e  valor !  Eu  la  diviso 
Manningham,  Beresford,  Hill,  Murray,  Clinton, 
Paget,  Frazer,  Nicolls,  Winch,  Manuel,  Fane, 
Bentick,  Warde,  Leith,  Crauford,  Griffith,  Miller, 
Williams,  Slade,  Stanhope,  Napier,  Disney, 

E  outros  muitos  Heroes. 

He  is  great  on  Talavera. 

Yerdade  Augusta,  Sacrosancta  Diva, 

Recorda  me  as  Ac^oes  maravilhosas 
Dos  preclaros  Heroes,  que  a  ferro  e  fogo 
Destro^arao  os  perfidos  Francezes 
Nos  campos  da  famosa  Talavera. 


28 


MADEIRA. 


You  must  not  fail  to  go  and  see  Nossa  Senhora 
do  Monte.  It  is  the  neatest  church  in  the  island, 
and  being  situated  on  a  terrace  just  half  way  up 
the  mountain’s  breast,  commands  one  of  the  most 
enchanting  views  in  the  world.  If  it  be  not  your 
creed  to  worship  Our  Lady,  at  all  events  you  can 
visit  the  good  Vicar  and  his  sister,  a  very  amiable 
pair,  who  will  give  you  oranges  and  wine,  and  a 
tune  on  the  guitar,  if  you  are  fond  of  music. 

The  quintas  or  country  residences  of  the  Eng¬ 
lish  merchants  are  delightful,  and  it  is  a  pretty 
thing  to  spend  a  Madeiran  afternoon  in  riding  about 
in  good  company  from  one  to  another.  They  start 
you  an  exquisite  luncheon  of  wines,  oranges,  and 
grapes  at  each,  and  as  you  have  only  just  gotten  into 
sunny  climates  you  feel  as  if  you  could  never  be 
satiated  with  such  repasts.  I  effected  four  trifles  of 
this  sort  post  meridiem,  and  one  of  Gordon’s  din¬ 
ners  at  seyen,  which  is  a  serious  affair. 

No  centro  do  confuso  Laberinto, 

Em  que  troao  de  Marte  horrendo  as  Iras, 

Nao  vistes  Wellesley  Incomparavel 
Por  brilhantes  acgdes  semi-adeozar-se  ? 

E  quantos  outros  por  acsoes  pasmosas 
Se  tornarao  alii  semi-divinos  ! — 

La  vejo  Campbell,  Anson,  Watson,  Tilson, 
Weltingham,  Bathurst,  Murray,  Langworth,  Payne, 
Sherbrooke,  Fletcher,  Guard,  Donnellan,  B unburg, 
Cameron,  Wilson,  Becket,  O’Lawlor,  White, 
Mackenzie,  Cotton,  Lyon,  Bingham,  Donkin, 

E  outros  Britannos  Inclitos  Guerreiros. 


MADEIRA. 


29 


The  English  chapel  is  an  elegant  and  convenient 
building,  situated  on  the  skirts  of  the  town,  and 
literally  embosomed  in  ever-springing  roses  and 
snow-white  daturas.  It  cost  an  unconscionable 
sum  of  money,  but  the  edifice  and  the  liberal  main¬ 
tenance  of  a  clergyman  are  an  honour  to  the  mer¬ 
chants. 

I  called  upon  the  Governor  Dom  Manoel  de  Por¬ 
tugal,  who  has  the  credit  of  being  a  bastard-slip  of 
some  one  of  the  royal  family.  He  is  a  little  prim 
gentleman,  and  talks  French  besides  his  vernacular. 
The  government  house  is  much  blocked  up,  but 
there  are  two  very  fine  state  rooms  in  it,  and  from 
the  windows  there  is  a  lovely  view  of  the  sea. 

But  the  great  sight  of  Madeira,  perhaps  one  of 
the  great  sights  of  the  world,  is  the  awful  Corral. 
Those  who  have  travelled,  know  how  vexatious  it 
is  to  feel  our  utter  inability  to  convey  to  a  third 
person  an  image  of  the  things  which  have  struck 
ourselves  with  admiration  ;  I  felt  this  and  I  feel  it 
now  in  all  its  painfulness,  yet  I  must  say  in  a  few 
words  what  the  Corral  is.  I  rode  sixteen  miles 
into  the  interior  of  the  island,  the  road  was  a  steep 
or  gentle  ascent  the  whole  way,  at  first  winding 
under  traceries  of  vines  and  amongst  avenues  of 
oranges,  but  latterly  broken  and  wild,  and  barely 
distinguishable  in  the  fallen  leaves  under  the  groves 
of  trees.  At  length  we  came  out  at  the  bottom  of 
a  valley,  on  one  side  of  which  was  a  luxuriant  car- 
4 


m 


MADEIRA* 


pet  of  heaths  and  furze,  on  the  other  a  low  wood, 
and  the  ends  closed  up  with  mountains  covered  with 
a  short  grass,  and  impeded  with  countless  masses  of 
granite  and  other  stones  lying  about  in  singular  con¬ 
fusion.  Our  way  lay  over  this  hilly  down,  and 
hard  work  it  was  to  make  any  progress,  though 
our  mules  did  their  utmost  to  pick  out  a  path 
amongst  the  fragments.  When  I  attained  the  top, 
I  absolutely  started  with  terror,  and  so  unexpected 
was  the  scene,  that  it  was  a  minute  or  two  before  I 
could  steadily  look  at  it.  Immediately  before  me 
an  enormous  chasm  opened  of  two  miles  or  more 
in  length,  about  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  and  some 
four  thousand  feet  in  depth.  The  bottom  was  a 
narrow  and  level  plain,  with  a  river  running  through 
it,  and  a  nunnery  with  its  church.  Right  opposite 
to  me  the  rocks  rose  as  a  wall,  and  shot  upwards 
into  the  sky  in  long  tottering  precipices  ;  the  clouds 
lay  in  motionless  strata  below  me,  but  higher  up 
they  were  careering  rapidly  amongst  the  craggy 
pinnacles,  sometimes  entirely  burying  them,  then 
showing  a  black  islet  emerging  through  them,  and 
sometimes  sweeping  off  for  a  season  and  revealing 
the  whole  stupendous  mass  piercing^  the  blue  hea¬ 
vens.  The  ravine  contracts  at  either  end  into  an 
acute  angle,  and  a  natural  bridge  or  causeway  forms 
a  communication  for  men  and  mules  going  to  San 
Vicente ;  beyond  this  another  chasm,  not  so  deep, 
but  broader,  lies  before  you  ;  this  closes  partly  at 


MADEIRA* 


31 


the  extremity,  and  through  a  small  opening  the  sea 
gleams  in  the  distance.  A  friend  of  mine,  who 
knew  Switzerland,  said  he  had  never  seen  any  thing 
in  the  Alpine  country  so  wonderfully  sublime  as 
this  place.  From  this  station  we  looked  back 
upon  Funchal  and  distinctly  made  out  the  ships  at 
anchor  in  the  bay.  After  we  had  wandered  about 
for  some  hours,  we  spread  a  capital  cold  dinner  on 
the  grass,  ate  veal  pye  and  turkey,  and  drank  por¬ 
ter  and  wine  on  the  brink  of  the  Corral.  After  we 
had  devoured  as  much  as  we  could,  we  retired,  and 
the  porters  and  muleteers  turned  to  in  our  places, 
and  cleared  decks  so  completely  that,  like  iEsop, 
they  had  nothing  but  empty  bottles  and  baskets  to 
carry  home  on  their  shoulders. 

Reader,  if  your  whim  or  your  necessities  should 
lead  you  to  Madeira,  go  for  my  sake  to  the  nunnery 
of  Santa  Clara.  It  is  at  the  western  end  of  Fun¬ 
chal,  and  you  may  buy  there  the  prettiest  flowers 
for  your  sweetheart’s  hair,  and  the  most  ingenious 
toys  in  wax  that  are  in  the  world.  The  nuns  sell 
them  very  cheap,  and  all  they  get  from  you  goes  in 
real  charity  to  themselves  or  their  pensioners. 
Perhaps  also  you  may  see  poor  Maria,  if  she  be  not 
dead ;  if  she  comes  speak  to  her  very  kindly,  and 
give  my  love  to  her  ;—-but  you  do  not  know  me,  or 
poor  Maria  either. 

Maria  Clementina,  the  youngest  child  of  Pedro 
Agostinho,  was  born  in  Madeira.  Her  parents  had 


32 


MADEIRA. 


an  unusually  large  family,  and  were  labouring  under 
some  embarrassment  from  the  unfavourable  termi¬ 
nation  of  an  important  law-suit.  What  unfortunate 
event  coincided  with  her  birth,  I  know  not,  but 
Maria  was  disliked  by  her  father  and  mother  from 
the  first  years  of  her  infancy.  Her  brothers  neg¬ 
lected  her  in  obedience  to  their  parents,  and  her 
sisters,  who  were  very  ugly,  hated  her  for  her 
beauty.  Every  one  else  in  Funchal  and  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  loved  her,  and  she  had  many  offers  of 
marriage  at  thirteen  years  of  age,  which  the  little 
maiden  laughed  at  and  forwarded  to  her  elder 
sisters.  The  more  she  was  petted  abroad,  the 
more  was  she  persecuted  at  home.  She  was  treat¬ 
ed  at  length  like  Cinderella,  with  no  chance  of  a 
fairy  to  help  her*  Amongst  other  arrangements 
for  the  purchase  of  commissions  for  two  of  his 
sons,  and  for  giving  portions  to  two  of  his  daugh¬ 
ters,  Pedro  Agostinho  determined  to  sacrifice  his 
best  and  sweetest  child  Maria.  At  eighteen  she 
was  placed  as  a  novice  in  this  nunnery,  at  nineteen 
she  took  the  veil  and  renounced  the  world  for  ever. 
At  this  time  she  was  the  most  beautiful  girl  in  the 
island,  and,  what  is  remarkable  in  a  Portugueze,  of 
a  fair  complexion,  with  a  brilliant  colour,  blue  eyes, 
and  very  long  and  glossy  brown  hair. 

A  year  after  this,  the  Constitutional  Government 
was  established  in  Portugal,  and  one  of  the  first  and 
wisest  acts  of  the  Cortes  was  to  order  the  doors  of 


MADEIRA. 


33 


all  religious  houses  to  be  thrown  open.  Santa 
Clara  was  visited  by  friends  and  strangers,  some  to 
see  the  church,  some  to  see  the  garden,  and  some 
to  see  the  nuns.  Amongst  others  a  Portugueze 
officer,  at  that  time  quartered  in  F unchal,  saw  and 
fell  in  love  with  Maria ;  he  was  a  handsome  youth, 
of  a  good  family,  and  Maria  returned  his  love  with 
an  earnestness  which  perhaps  had  as  much  a  desire 
of  liberty  as  female  passion  in  it.  A  nun  is  eman¬ 
cipated  from  her  parents,  and  the  law  declared  the 
vow  of  celibacy  null  and  void.  The  marriage  was 
determined  on,  her  hair  permitted  to  grow  again, 
her  clothes  prepared,  and  the  wedding-day  fixed. 
Maria  fell  ill,  and  the  physician  enjoined  perfect 
quiet  for  some  time.  The  wedding  was  fatally 
postponed  to  another  day,  and  before  that  day  arri¬ 
ved,  his  Faithful  Majesty  had  dissolved  his  parlia¬ 
ment,  and,  fearful  lest  Heaven  should  lose  one 
more  of  its  daughters,  had  revoked  the  law  of  the 
Cortes,  and  dispatched  an  express  to  notify  as  much 
to  his  subjects  in  Madeira.  Maria  arose  from  her 
bed  of  sickness  to  return  to  her  cell  and  her  rosary ; 
her  lengthening  ringlets  were  again  mercilessly 
shorn ;  the  mob  cap,  the  leathern  corset,  the  serge 
gown  were  laid  before  her,  and  some  old  Egyp¬ 
tians,  who  could  not  better  themselves  elsewhere, 
bade  her  return  thanks  to  God  that  she  had  so  nar¬ 
rowly  escaped  mixing  again  in  the  vanities  of  the 
world. 


4* 


34 


MADEIRA. 


On  the  5th  of  January,  a  few  hours  before  we 
sailed  from  Madeira,  I  walked  with  a  handsome 
and  very  agreeable  Englishwoman  to  visit  Santa 
Clara.  I  was  very  anxious  to  see  Maria,  whose 
story  I  knew.  After  a  little  hesitation  on  the  part 
of  two  or  three  venerable  ladies,  who  first  present¬ 
ed  themselves  at  the  great  door  of  the  house,  Maria 
was  summoned.  She  came  to  us  with  a  smiling 
countenance,  and  kissed  my  companion  repeatedly. 
Her  colour  was  gone,  but  she  was  still  beautifully 
fair,  and  the  exquisite  shape  of  her  neck,  and  the 
nobleness  of  her  forehead  were  visible  under  the 
disadvantage  of  a  dress  as  ungraceful  as  was  ever 
invented  for  the  purpose  of  mortifying  female  va¬ 
nity.  She  spoke  her  language  with  that  pretty 
lisp  which,  I  believe,  the  critics  of  Lisbon  pro¬ 
nounce  to  be  a  vicious  peculiarity  of  the  natives  of 
Madeira,  but  also  with  a  correctness  and  an  energy 
that  indicated  a  powerful  and  ingenuous  mind.  I 
took  half  of  a  large  bunch  of  violets  which  I  had  in 
my  hand  and  gave  them  to  my  friend  to  present 
to  her.  Flowers  are  a  dialect  of  Portugueze  which 
is  soon  learnt.  She  took  them,  curtesied  very  low, 
opened  the  folds  of  a  muslin  neck  kerchief,  and 
dropped  them  loose  on  her  snowy  bosom. 

The  vesper  bell  sounded,  the  door  was  closed 
between  the  nun  and  the  world,  but  she  beckoned 
us  to  go  into  their  church.  We  did  so  ;  it  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  the  island,  and  very  curiously  lined 


MADEIRA. 


35 


with  a  sort  of  porcelain ;  attached  to  its  western 
end  is  the  chapel  of  the  nuns,  and  a  double  iron 
grating  to  enable  them  to  hear  and  participate  in 
the  service  of  the  mass.  Maria  came  with  some 
flowers  in  her  hand  which  she  had  been  gathering 
in  the  garden.  She  took  four  of  them  from  the 
rest,  and  gave  them  to  me  through  the  bars.  “  Sao 
immortaes,”  said  she;  they  were  some  common 
everlastings. 

“  Que  idade  tern  vm.  senhora  ?”  said  I. 

“  Vinte  e  hum  annos  !” 

“  E  se  chama— ”  I  added. 

“  Maria.” 

“  E  Clementina  tambem  ?” 

“  Sim,  nos  tempos  passados.”* 

I  leaned  as  close  as  I  could  and  spoke  a  few 
words  in  a  low  tone,  which  she  did  not  seem  to  un¬ 
derstand.  “Nao  entende,”  said  I.t 

“Sim,  sim,’J  interrupted  Maria,  “entendo  bem; 
diga.” 

“  Esta  vm.  feliz,  senhora 

The  abbess,  who  was  engaged  with  my  compa- 

*  “How  old  are  you?”  “  Twenty-one.” 

“  And  your  name  is — ”  “  Maria.” 

“ And  Clementina  as  well?”  “Yes,  in  by  gone 
days.” 

|  “  She  does  not  understand.” 

X  “  Yes,  yes,  I  understand  well ;  speak.”  “Are  you 
happy,  lady  ?” 


36 


MADEIRA. 


nion,  turned  her  head,  and  Maria  answered  with  an 
air  of  gaiety,  “  O  sim,  muito  feliz.”* 

I  shook  my  head  as  in  doubt.  A  minute  elapsed, 
and  the  abbess  was  occupied  again.  Maria  put 
her  hands  through  the  grating,  took  one  of  mine, 
and  made  me  feel  a  thin  gold  ring  on  her  little  fin¬ 
ger,  and  then,  pressing  my  hand  closely,  said,  in  an 
accent  which  I  still  hear;  “Nao,  nao,  nao ;  tenho 
dor  do  coragao.”t 

The  service  began ;  the  old  nuns  croaked  like 
frogs,  and  the  young  ones  paced  up  and  down, 
round  and  about,  in  strange  and  fanciful  figures, 
chaunting  as  sweetly  as  caged  Canary  birds.  I 
gazed  at  them  for  a  long  time  with  feelings  that 
cannot  be  told,  and  when  it  was  time  to  go,  I  caught 
Maria’s  eye,  and  made  her  a  slight  but  earnest 
bow.  She  dropped  a  curtesy  which  seemed  a  ge¬ 
nuflection  to  her  neighbour,  raised  a  violet  behind 
her  service-book  to  her  mouth,  held  it,  looked  at  it, 
and  kissed  it  in  token  of  an  eternal  farewell. 

I  wish  to  know  whether  there  would  have  been 
any  harm  in  my  accepting  the  captain’s  offer  of 
his  coxswain  and  gig’s  crew,  and  running  away 
with  Maria  Clementina.  The  thing  was  perfectly 
easy,  as  we  all  agreed  at  the  time ;  at  the  principal 
door  there  was  no  grating,  and  in  the  court  none 

*  “  O  yes,  very  happy.” 

|  “  No,  no,  no ;  I  have  the  heart-ache.” 


MADEIRA. 


37 


but  maimed  or  decrepit  persons  ;  three  men  should 
stand  at  the  outer  gate  and  prevent  any  egress  till 
we  had  brought  our  prize  down  to  the  Loo  Rock  ; 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  should  be  on  board  a 
man  of  war,  and  even  if  they  had  taken  the  alarm 
and  fired  from  the  battery,  it  is  perfectly  well  known 
that  the  Portugueze  government  never  allows  more 
than  one  half  of  the  due  charge  of  powder  to  its 
artillery,  and  so  we  might  have  laughed  at  their 
impotent  attempts.  But  what  could  1  have  done 
with  my  nun  ?  Her  lover  was,  heaven  knows  where, 
and  as  to  conjugating  myself,  although  Maria  was 
a  very  lovely  girl,  I  happen  to  have  my  hands  quite 
full  for  the  present.  So  God  bless  thee,  and  again 
in  very  sorrow  I  say,  God  bless  thee  infinitely, 
sweet  and  unfortunate  Madeiran !  If  I  were  a  Tory, 
as  sure  I  am  not,  I  would  pray  the  Cortes  might 
get  on  their  legs  again,  if  it  were  only  to  let  thee 
out  of  thy  prison. 


CROSSING  THE  TROPIC. 


About  six  in  the  evening  of  the  17th  of  January, 
a  sail  was  discovered  to  windward  on  the  larboard 
bow.  Shortly  afterwards  the  man  on  the  fore-top 
gallant  yard  saw  that  she  was  making  towards  us 
on  the  other  tack.  There  seemed  to  be  something 
mysterious  in  the  appearance  of  this  sail  and  the 
course  she  was  keeping ;  unless  she  came  from 
Sierra  Leone,  no  one  could  imagine  what  she  was. 
The  captain  eyed  her  with  his  glass ;  she  was  under 
courses  and  top-sails,  with  her  jibs  flying,  and  a 
broad  pendant  at  the  mast  head.  Yet  she  made  no 
signal,  and  was  nearing  us  fast. 

The  sun  went  down  into  the  sea  as  a  great  palpa¬ 
ble  sphere  of  flame,  and  the  stars  came  out  as  stars 
only  come  out  over  the  bosom  of  the  central  Atlan¬ 
tic.  I  had  been  hanging  over  the  windward  gang¬ 
way,*  and  gazing  on  the  sea  till  my  eyes  swam ;  and 
methought  a  fair  and  languid  shape  rose  ever  and 
anon  between  the  foamy  crests  of  the  purple  waves. 

*  But  I  recommend  no  one  to  follow  my  example ; 
the  draft  is  very  great,  and  is  sure  to  develope  any  rheu¬ 
matic  tendencies  you  may  accidentally  possess. 


CROSSING  THE  TROPIC. 


39 


looking  Eugenia  at  me,  and  beckoning  and  speak¬ 
ing,  though  I  could  not  hear,  and  pointing  down 
to  ocean,  and  then  long  and  steadily  to  heaven, 
whereat  I  trembled  and  sighed,  and  fears  and  suspi¬ 
cious  fancies,  and  thoughts  of  dead  things,  and 
musings  of  preternatural  agencies,  absorbed  my 
senses,  when  on  a  sudden  a  tremendous  conch 
roar,  issuing  from  under  the  bows  of  the  ship, 
startled  me  from  my  reverie.  It  was  eight  o’clock, 
and  a  hoarse  piratical  Atlantic  voice  hailed  us  and 
demanded  who  we  were;  the  captain  answered 
with  his  hat  off,  for  it  seems  he  had  been  on  the 
station  before  and  recognized  the  awful  sound,  and 
having  told  our  name  and  other  log-book  particulars, 
concluded,  by  requesting  His  Majesty  to  come  on 
board.  Neptune,  for  it  now  appeared  to  be  indeed 
no  other  than  this  awful  personage,  replied  that  he 
could  not  leave  his  car  that  night,  but  he  would 
visit  us  the  next  morning.  He  said ;  the  conchs 
Tritonian  sounded  again,  the  god  rushed  by  in  a 
flaming  chariot  like  unto  a  tar  barrel,  which  the 
sailor  heaves  upon  the  forecastle,  what  time  he  tars 
the  newly  twisted  yarn  ;  and  from  yards  and  masts, 
main-top,  top-gallant  and  royal,  down  came  an  ava¬ 
lanche  of  water,  which  laid  some  dozen  of  unwary 
mariners  sprawling  in  an  inundation  of  Neptunian 
ichor. 

At  nine  the  next  morning  the  king  came  in 
through  one  of  the  bridle  ports.  He  was  seated  on 


40 


CROSSING  THE  TROPIC. 


what  men  would  have  supposed  to  be  a  gun-car¬ 
riage,  and  drawn  by  four  marine  monsters.  Am- 
phitritty  was  by  his  side,  and  their  only  child,  the 
heir  of  the  sea,  was  in  her  arms.  The  king  was 
crowned  with  Atlantic  water-flowers,  and  he  bore 
in  his  hand  the  trident  which  sailors  have  imitated 
in  the  common  grange.  He  was  preceded  by  six 
Tritons,  whom  I  had  so  often  wished  to  see  and 
hear  after  reading  Wordsworth’s  sonnet,*  and  Mer¬ 
cury  came  with  wings,  caduceus  and  a  scroll  under 
his  arm,  A  white  bear,  who  seemed  to  have  come 
from  Regent’s  Inlet  on  an  iceberg,  which  melted  in 
latitude  50°  and  left  him  to  shift  for  himself,  acted 
as  body  guard,  and  another  troop  of  Tritons  closed 
the  cavalcade.  We  all  took  off  our  hats ;  civil 
things  passed  between  Neptune  and  the  captain ; 
the  man  complained  that  the  trades  were  kept  too 
far  to  the  south  now,  and  the  god  declared  that  as 
he  travelled  by  steam  himself,  he  was  wholly  una¬ 
ware  of  the  fact,  but  that  he  would  order  them  up 
forthwith ;  and  then  he  desired  all  his  children,  who 
had  not  entered  his  kingdom’s  capital  province  be¬ 
fore,  to  listen  to  his  public  crier,  and  willingly  do 
accordingly.  While  I  was  giving  the  bear  cake  to 
eat,  Mercury  read  an  oration,  some  parts  of  which 
were  hermetically  sealed  from  my  comprehension  ; 
however,  he  urged  us  to  admire  Amphitritty,  a 


*  “  The  world  is  too  much  with  us-— 


CROSSING  THE  TROPIC. 


41 


woman,  as  he  assured  us,  as  remarkable  for  the 
hamiableness  of  her  disposition,  as,  we  saw,  she 
was  for  the  helcgancy  of  her  person.  He  finished 
by  repeating  to  us  youngsters  those  three  invalua¬ 
ble  maxims  which  will  carry  a  man  safe  through 
the  world. 

1.  Never  heave  any  thing  to  windward  except 
hot  water  and  ashes. 

2.  Never  drink  small  beer  when  you  can  get 
strong,  unless  you  like  small  beer  better. 

3.  Never  kiss  the  maid  when  you  may  kiss  the 
mistress,  unless,  as  aforesaid,  you  happen  to  like 
kissing  the  maid  better. 

The  pageant  passed  off ;  but  two  water-bailiffs 
came  and  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder,  with  a 
“  You’re  wanted.”  It  made  me  think  of  my  debts. 
They  wished  to  blindfold  me,  but  I  was  deter¬ 
mined  to  be  shaved,  like  Ney,  with  my  eyes  wide 
open.  As  I  walked  slowly  to  the  forecastle  I  was 
considerably  washed  by  a  dozen  buckets  of  water 
sent  down  upon  me  from  the  main  top  and  yard ; 
then  1  mounted  the  ladder;  at  the  top  stood  the 
doctor  on  one  side  and  the  barber  on  the  other ; 
the  medical  man  felt  my  purse,  said  it  fluttered  a 
little,  and  gave  me  a  saline  draught  from  an  eau  de 
Cologne  bottle,  and  gently  pushed  me  into  a  deep 
purse  bag  half  full  of  water.  Thrice  I  essayed  to 
get  out ;  thrice  the  pensile  sail  tripped  me  up,  and 
Bear,  ungrateful  Bear,  who  was  rolling  about  at 
5 


42 


CROSSING  THE  TROPIC. 


ihe  bottom,  caught  me  in  an  amarous  hug,  and 
dallied  with  me  in  his  tarry  palms.  At  last  I 
doubled  him  up  with  a  smashing  hit  in  the  wind, 
stood  upon  him  and  clambered  out,  knocked  down 
the  shaver,  and  ran  through  a  Niagara  of  water  to 
my  cabin. 

After  this,  Ducking  began  in  all  its  forms,  under 
every  possible  modification  of  splashing  and  im¬ 
mersion.  There  was  the  Duck  courteous,  the 
Duck  oblique,  the  Duck  direct,  the  Duck  up¬ 
right,  the  Duck  downright,  the  bucket  Duck,  the 
tub  Duck,  the  shower  Duck,  and  the  Duck  and 
Drake. 

“  There  was  water,  water  everywhere, 

And  not  a  drop  to  drink.” 

A  fine  water-piece. 

But  Neptune  sent  the  trades.  Full  on  our  lar¬ 
board  quarter  did  they  blow,  every  sail  was  set, 
the  flying  fish  glided  by  us,  bonitos  and  albicores 
played  round  the  bows,  dolphins  gleamed  in  our 
wake,  ever  and  anon  a  shark,  and  once  a  great 
emerald-coloured  whale  kept  us  company,  till,  on 
the  morning  of  the  29th  of  January,  we  made  the 
green  shores  of  Barbados,  and  cast  our  anchor  in 
Carlisle  Bay. 


How  a  man’s  heart  swells  within  him,  when,  after 
sea  and  sky  and  sky  and  sea  for  nearly  a  month,  he 
first  sees  the  kindly  land  beckon  to  him  over  the 
salt  waves!  And  that  land  tropical!  Carlisle  Bay 
sleeping  like  an  infant,  and  countenanced  like  the 
sky  on  a  June  morning,  the  warrior  pendants,  the 
merchant  signals,  the  graceful  gleaming  boats,  the 
dark  sailors,  the  circling  town,  the ,  silver  strand 
and  the  long  shrouding  avenues  of  immortal  palms 
greenly  fringing  the  blue  ocean!  It  is  a  beautiful 
scene  in  itself,  but  thrice  beautiful  is  it  to  the  weary 
mariner  who  deeply  feels  that  land  was  made  for 
him. 

I  was  present  when  the  first  Protestant  bishop 
arrived  in  the  bay,  and  the  landing  was  a  spectacle 
which  I  shall  not  easily  forget.  The  ships  of  war 
were  dressed  and  their  yards  manned,  and  salutes 
fired ;  this  was  pretty  and  common ;  but  such  a 
sight  as  the  Carenage  presented  very  few  have  ever 
witnessed.  On  the  quay,  on  the  mole,  on  boats, 
on  posts,  on  house  tops,  through  doors  and  win¬ 
dows,  wherever  a  human  foot  could  stand,  was  one 


44 


BARBADOS. 


appalling  mass  of  black  faces.  As  the  barge  pass¬ 
ed  slowly  along,  the  emotions  of  the  multitude 
were  absolutely  tremendous ;  they  threw  up  their 
arms  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  they  danced, 
and  jumped,  and  rolled  on  the  ground,  they  sung 
and  screamed  and  shouted  and  roared,  till  the 
whole  surface  of  the  place  seemed  to  be  one  huge 
grin  of  delight.  Then  they  broke  out  into  a  thou¬ 
sand  wild  exclamations  of  joy  and  passionate  con¬ 
gratulations,  uttered  with  such  vehemence  that, 
new  as  it  was  then  to  me,  it  made  me  tremble ;  till 
I  was  somewhat  restored  by  a  chorus  of  negro  girls, 
— 44  De  Bissop  is  come  :  De  Bissop  is  come !  He  is 
coming  to  marry  us,  coming  to  marry  us,  coming  to 
marry  us  all !” 

Barbados  is  the  most  ancient  colony  in  the  Bri¬ 
tish  Empire.  It  has  never  changed  hands,  and 
been  invaded  once  only  by  the  forces  of  the  Long 
Parliament.  It  was  the  asylum  for  the  royalists, 
as  Jamaica  afterwards  became  for  the  republicans. 
Many  of  the  present  families  are  lineally  descend¬ 
ed  from  the  original  planters,  and  the  estates  bear 
names  which  may  be  found  in  Ligon  and  the  early 
memorialists  of  the  Island.  It  is  generally  level, 
except  in  the  north-eastern  quarter,  called  Scot¬ 
land,  where  the  highest  land  is  about  1,100  feet 
from  the  sea.  The  soil  for  the  most  part  is  a  thin 
superficies,  upon  a  mass  of  coralline  rag,  which 
protrudes  through  it,  wherever  there  is  an  angle  or 


BARBADOS* 


45 


&  fissure,  and  so  very  precious  is  the  mould,  that 
means  are  usually  taken  at  the  bottom  of  shelving 
fields  to  prevent  its  being  carried  away  by  the  tor¬ 
rents  in  the  rainy  season.  Barbados  is  without 
that  central  accumulation  of  hills  which  is  almost 
universal  in  the  other  Antilles,  and  I  should  there¬ 
fore  doubt  its  being  of  volcanic  formation.  It  is 
considered  to  be  exhausted,  and  manure  is  as  ne¬ 
cessary  as  in  England.  Under  these  circumstances 
it  is  astonishing  to  see  the  amount  of  the  produc¬ 
tion.  The  island  is  something  less  than  the  Isle  of 
Wight;  it  exports  at  an  average  upwards  of  314.- 
000  cwts.  of  sugar  annually,  besides  poultry  to  the 
Leeward  colonies;  it  contains  about  1 10,000  souls, 
who  find  their  means  of  subsistence  upon  that  part 
of  the  residue  of  the  soil  which  is  not  occupied  by 
woods,  and  they  import  only  flour  and  salt  fish  from 
North  America  in  no  very  considerable  quantities. 
Yet  it  is  notorious  that  the  negroes  live  here  much 
better  than  in  any  other  colony,  and  they  increase 
in  numbers  every  year. 

Bridge  Town  lies  round  the  bay,  is  nearly  two 
miles  in  length,  scarcely  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  and 
contains  upwards  of  20,000  inhabitants.  There 
are  some  handsome  houses  in  it,  and  many  which 
are  very  convenient  within,  but  the  want  of  our 
shop  windows,  and  the  extreme  irregularity  of  the 
buildings,  take  away  all  appearance  of  splendour. 
There  is  a  square  or  open  place  with  a  good  statue 


4  G 


BARBADOS. 


of  Nelson,  a  great  favourite  in  the  West  Indies,  in 
the  centre,  and  one  or  two  large  chemists’  shops  on 
the  sides,  which  are  always  the  most  respectable  in 
look  of  any  in  West  Indian  towns.  The  Cathedral 
is  large  and  plain,  with  a  tower  just  raised  above 
the  roof;  for  the  Barbadians  have  the  fear  of  hur¬ 
ricanes  so  constantly  before  their  eyes,  that  they 
seem  to  have  thought  a  tower  twenty  feet  high  a 
kind  of  provoking  of  Providence.  Hence  most 
of  the  churches  look  like  our  methodist  meeting¬ 
houses,  which  is  an  exceedingly  unpleasant  associa¬ 
tion  to  a  man  of  ordinary  taste.  The  foundation 
of  another  church  has  now  been  laid  in  an  open 
space  in  a  distant  part  of  the  town,  which,  though 
not  quite  so  capacious,  will  be  a  much  more  elegant 
building  than  the  cathedral.  Heaven  also  is  to  be 
tempted  by  a  reasonable  tower  erected  thereon. 
One  great  advantage  may  be  expected  from  this 
undertaking,  by  the  people  having  ocular  demon¬ 
stration  of  the  superior  convenience  of  the  new 
mode  of  pewing  over  the  huge  inclosures,  which  at 
present  render  three  fifths  of  the  area  of  a  West 
Indian  church  useless.  There  are  two  literary 
societies  in  the  town,  which  consist  of  all  the  lead¬ 
ing  persons  in  the  colony,  have  good  libraries,  and 
give  four  times  per  annum  very  luculent  dinners, 
whereof  once  and  again,  but  of  that  at  another 
time.  There  is  also  an  agricultural  society,  and 
one  or  two  commercial  rooms.  Beyond  the  cathe- 


BARBADOS'. 


47 


dral  is  the  King’s  house,  which  belongs  to  the  com¬ 
mander  of  the  forces  on  the  station,  and  half  a  mile 
farther  on  in  the  country,  the  Government  house. 
At  the  southern  extremity  of  the  town  is  the  garri¬ 
son  of  St.  Ann’s,  the  barracks  of  which  are  large 
and  spacious  buildings  with  covered  galleries  run¬ 
ning  round  them,  and  the  parade  is  one  of  the 
finest  I  ever  saw. 

His  Majesty’s  council,  the  general  assembly,  the 
judges,  the  juries,  the  debtors  and  the  felons,  all  live 
together  in  the  same  house.  It  is  a  large  one,  with 
an  open  space  around  it,  and  inclosed  by  a  wall. 
With  whom  the  mere  right  to  the  tenement  is,  I 
could  not  learn  ;  whether  the  legislature  lends  it  to 
the  judicature,  or  whether  both  are  only  tenants  at 
will  to  the  worshipful  company  of  debtors  and 
rogues,  is  a  point  not  clearly  ascertained.  I  am 
inclined  however  to  think  that  the  latter  gentlemen 
have  the  title-deeds,  form  observing  that  they  inva¬ 
riably  do  the  honors  of  the  house  to  all  the  rest. 
Their  civility  is  unbounded ;  they  help  you  out  of 
your  carriage  and  hold  your  horse  and  your  stirrup, 
they  line  the  staircase  on  either  side  in  token  of 
respect  to  you,  show  you  through  their  apartments, 
and  are  forward  to  give  you  every  piece  of  infor¬ 
mation  which  the  most  expert  cicerone  "can  furnish. 
Their  loyalty  is  without  suspicion  ;  in  sign  whereof, 
they  turn  out  of  their  best  bedroom  to  make  wav 
for  a  session  of  the  council,  and  their  civic  patriot- 


48 


BARBADOS. 


ism  is  as  dear,  from  the  interest  they  display  in  the 
public  debates — the  men,  the  women  and  the  chil¬ 
dren  crowding  inquisitively  round  the  open  door  of 
the  council,  and  lounging  in  the  gallery,  or  leaning 
familiarly  over  the  rails  in  the  hall  of  the  assembly. 
These  are  their  virtues ;  a  few  failings  they  have, 
such  as  the  habit  of  not  returning  any  thing  left  in 
their  house,  an  appetency  after  the  contents  of  a 
stranger’s  coat  pocket,  and  a  somewhat  too  profuse 
employment  of  the  imprecatory  part  of  the  Barba¬ 
dian  dialect.  But  seriously  it  is  scarcely  consistent 
with  the  dignity  of  the  most  ancient,  most  loyal, 
and  most  windward  colony  in  the  West  Indies  to 
join  their  House  of  Lords,  St.  Stephen’s,  Westmin¬ 
ster  Hall,  Newgate  and  Marshalsea  all  in  one ; 
recte  dividere  is  a  great  matter  in  building  houses 
as  in  arguing  cases,  and  it  might  be  well  to  consider 
how  far  familiarity,  even  with  personages  of  such 
high  character,  may  not  breed  something  like  con¬ 
tempt.  If  1  sit  down  to  dinner  with  a  professed 
scoundrel,  he  absorbs  a  portion  of  my  good  charac¬ 
ter,  and  I  receive  a  like  portion  of  his  bad  one,  till 
an  equilibrium  having  taken  place,  we  both  rise  in 
the  opinion  of  by-standers,  a  couple  of  scoundrels 
together. 

In  truth  this  jail,  like  every  other  in  the  West 
Indies  except  those  in  Port  of  Spain  and  Kings¬ 
town,  is  infamous.  It  would  not  cost  £200  a  year 
to  reform  it.  Some  sort  of  classification  should  be 


BARBADOS. 


49 


enforced,  such  as  of  debtors,  felons  and  women  ;  no 
intercourse  between  these  several  divisions,  or  be¬ 
tween  any  of  them  and  the  town,  should  upon  any 
account  be  allowed  ;  a  very  deserving  young  cler¬ 
gyman  of  the  name  of  Packer  has  already  been 
appointed  at  the  earnest  instances  of  the  bishop  to 
attend  to  the  prisoners  ;  regular  visitations  of  magis¬ 
trates  should  be  established,  and  above  all  a  capa¬ 
cious  tread-wheel  should  be  forthwith  erected. 
The  money  laid  out  on  this  sovereign  machine 
would  be  saved  in  the  first  year  by  the  reduction  of 
the  usual  jail  expenses.  Herbert  or  White  would 
make  the  article  of  pitch  pine,  and  it  is  almost  im¬ 
possible  to  set  bounds  to  the  improvement,  which 
might  be  expected  to  take  place  in  the  public  cha¬ 
racter  under  the  mild  influence  of  this  blessed  in¬ 
vention.  The  fact  is,  the  thing  is  found  to  answer 
exceedingly  well  in  Trinidad,  and  Barbados  would 
be  the  better  for  following  the  example. 

There  are  three  other  towns  in  the  island.  Hole 
town  is  a  collection  of  five  or  six  houses  on  the  sea 
shore  about  seven  miles  from  the  capital,  and  is 
remarkable  only  for  having  been  the  first  settlement 
of  the  English,  who  landed  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  called  their  hamlet  James  Town,  in  honour  of 
the  first  Stuart.  Speight’s  town  or  Spikes,  as  it  is 
commonly  pronounced,  is  a  pretty  large  place, 
seven  miles  farther  on  the  coast ;  it  has  a  roadstead 
and  wharf,  and  formerly  exported  a  great  deal  of 


50 


BARBADOS. 


sugar  directly  to  England,  but  the  usual  practice 
now  is  to  send  it  by  droghers  or  small  cutters  to 
Carlisle  bay.  There  is  a  daily  communication  byr 
water  between  Speights  and  Bridge  Town  ;  it  is 
a  very  beautiful  excursion,  and  the  wind  rarely 
fails  either  way.  The  population  of  the  place  is 
colored  in  a  very  large  proportion,  and  you  may 
walk  some  time  in  the  street  before  you  will  meet 
a  white  or  black  man  or  woman.  The  church  is 
very  neat,  but  the  pulpit  is  a  fathom  too  high,  a 
common  fault  in  the  West  Indies,  where  they  fancy, 
the  higher  the  preacher  is  placed,  the  more  sublime 
will  the  sermon  be.  To  be  sure,  by  this  arrange- 
rnent  every  class  of  persons  must  of  necessity  un¬ 
derstand  the  clergyman,  which  is  something  at  all 
events.  The  view  from  Dover  Hill,  a  fortress  and 
signal  station,  half  a  mile  from  the  town,  is  very 
interesting.  The  houses  are  nearly  lost  in  the 
foliage  of  gardens,  and  the  almost  painted  sea  shines 
in  still  sky-blue  between  the  slender  stems  of  the 
thousands  of  cocoa  nut  trees,  which  form  a  green 
fence  upon  the  shore.  One  great  inconvenience 
in  travelling  along  the  leeward  side  of  the  island  is 
the  sand,  which  especially  in  Speights  is  so  deep, 
that  a  heavy  carriage  is  sure  to  stick  fast  in  it. 
What  with  the  whiteness  of  this  sand,  and  the  shelv¬ 
ing  tables  of  land  to  the  east  which  keep  off  every 
breath  of  wind,  it  is  one  of  the  most  oppressive 
rides  in  Barbados.  I  thought  it  would  have  given 


BARBADOS. 


51 


me  ihc  ophthalmia.  As  you  pass  along,  you  see  the 
remnants  of  old  forts  at  very  short  intervals,  with  a 
great  number  of  guns,  most  of  them  honeycombed, 
dismounted,  or  even  half  buried  in  the  earth.  The 
other  town  is  called  Oistin’s  or  Austin’s,  not  from 
St.  Augustin,  but  from  a  certain  lewd  fellow  of  the 
name  who  lived  here  and  loved  rum  and  a  main  of 
cocks  dearly.  It  is  a  few  miles  to  windward  of 
Bridge  Town,  and  of  that  magnitude  that  my  Lord 
Seaforth,  upon  first  visiting  it,  turned  round  to  his 
aides-de-camp,  and  said — u  Gentlemen,  keep  close ! 
or  I  shall  be  out  of  the  town  before  you  are  in  it.” 

The  central  school  is  a  large  and  convenient 
building  nearly  opposite  the  king’s  house,  and 
within  two  minutes  walk  of  the  cathedral.  It  is 
impossible  to  speak  in  too  high  terms  of  this  excel¬ 
lent  institution,  which  reflects  upon  Lord  Comber- 
mere  who  promoted,  and  the  legislature  which 
liberally  seconded  the  undertaking,  the  utmost  cre¬ 
dit.  At  present  about  160  white  children  are 
educated  here,  precisely  upon  the  plan  of  the 
national  schools  in  England;  all  of  them  are  fed 
during  the  day,  and  the  major  part  are  well  lodged. 
The  beneficial  effects  of  this  charity  are  already 
confessed  on  all  hands  ;  principles  of  sobriety  and 
devotion  are  instilled  into  their  minds,  and  habits  of 
regularity  and  peaceful  subordination  are  enforced. 
From  this  class  of  boys,  the  master  tradesman,  me¬ 
chanics,  overseers  and  even  managers  will  hereafter 


52 


BARBADOS. 


be  supplied;  and  when  it  is  considered  how  much 
the  comforts  and  improvement  of  the  slaves  must 
depend  upon  the  characters  of  these  persons,  their 
education  will  be  found  to  be,  as  it  really  is,  a  direct 
measure  of  general  amelioration.  The  foundation 
of  another  school  in  the  neighbourhood  has  also 
been  laid  by  the  bishop,  which  is  to  be  devoted  en¬ 
tirely  to  girls,  who  are  to  be  thus  separated  from 
the  boys,  and  boarded  and  lodged  by  themselves. 
It  is  but  common  justice  to  say  that  these  are 
favourite  institutions,  and  that  the  chief  people  of 
the  colony,  male  and  female,  spare  neither  pains  or 
expense  in  maintaining  and  strengthening  them. 

There  is  a  large  school  of  coloured  children, 
chiefly  free,  in  the  town,  which  was  formerly  sup¬ 
ported  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  but  has 
since  been  put  by  the  coloured  managers  of  it 
entirely  under  the  bishop’s  superintendence.  The 
children  are  very  well  behaved,  very  docile,  very 
sensible  of  the  advantages  which  they  acquire  by  a 
system  of  methodical  instruction ;  and  the  actual 
difference  between  them  and  their  untaught  bre¬ 
thren  of  the  same  colour  and  sometimes  same  con¬ 
dition  would  convince  any  unprejudiced  witness, 
that  it  is  not  to  emancipation  but  to  education  that 
the  sincere  philanthropist  ought  to  direct  his  pre¬ 
sent  labours.  Four  more  schools  have  been  opened 
by  the  indefatigable  bishop  for  boys  and  girls  re¬ 
spectively  ;  they  are  maintained  at  the  expense  of 


BARBADOS. 


53 


government;  any  colour  is  admitted  upon  the  sim¬ 
ple  condition  of  cleanliness  and  constant  attendance, 
and  the  instruction  is  gratuitous.  These  schools 
are  scattered  about  in  the  parts  of  the  town  princi¬ 
pally  inhabited  by  the  coloured  people,  who  are  by 
these  means  more  readily  induced  to  send  their 
children.  These  children  are  chiefly  of  the  lowest 
order  of  the  free  coloured  and  of  the  domestic  and 
mechanic  slaves  in  Bridge  Town  and  the  immediate 
vicinity.  They  are  not  at  present  taught  to  write, 
a  point  certainly  not  of  any  vital  importance,  and 
wisely  conceded  to  prejudices  which  will  in  due 
time  melt  away  under  a  conviction  of  the  propriety 
of  the  knowledge  and  the  futility  of  the  prohibition. 

Codrington  College  is  romantically  situated  on 
the  borders  of  the  Barbadian  Scotland ;  a  steep  cliff 
rises  on  one  side  of  it,  from  the  foot  of  which  an 
avenue  of  magnificent  cabbage  trees  leads  up  to  the 
lawn  in  front  of  the  building,  and  on  the  other  side 
the  ground  gradually  slopes  away  to  some  small 
rocks  over  the  sea.  No  position  could  have  been 
more  convenient  in  every  respect;  it  is  retired, 
possesses  a  running  stream  of  water,  and  is  ever 
refreshed  by  the  virgin  breezes  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  original  plan  of  the  edifice  was  quadrangular 
or  perhaps  oblong ;  it  actually  consists  of  nothing 
but  one  of  the  long  sides  and  slight  projections  of 
two  others.  It  is  an  exceedingly  massive  affair, 
and  seems  hurricane  and  earthquake  proof.  An 
6 


54 


BARBADOS. 


open  archway,  as  at  King’s  College,  Cambridge, 
corresponds,  in  the  centre  of  the  building,  with  the 
head  of  the  avenue.  It  contains  a  large  school¬ 
room  with  a  niche,  where  the  statue  of  Codrington 
ought  certainly  to  be  placed,  a  chapel  very  much 
out  of  order,  a  library  with  a  few  good  books  and 
plenty  of  rubbish,  and  spacious  accommodations  for 
sleeping  up  stairs.  The  Principal’s  lodge  is  on  the 
same  line,  but  detached  from  the  college,  and  is 
without  doubt  one  of  the  most  delectable  houses  in 
the  Antilles. 

This  institution,  though  at  present  all  but  useless, 
may  be  made  the  foundation  and  instrument  of  a 
great  and  lasting  change  in  the  entire  West  Indies. 
That  it  was  originally  intended  as  an  university  for 
youths  and  not  a  mere  school  for  boys  is  evident, 
from  the  terms  of  the  founder’s  will,  and  it  is  in  this 
light  alone,  and  with  a  view  of  commencing  and 
ultimately  perfecting  this  character  of  it,  that  it 
deserves  the  most  serious  attention  of  the  trustees, 
the  insular  legislatures,  and  even  the  government  at 
home.  It  is  quite  monstrous  that  the  object  of  so 
magnificent  a  charity,  and  such  large  actual  funds, 
should  be  the  support  and  instruction  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen  boys,  who  might  be  educated  much  better 
elsewhere  in  the  island.  If  the  colony  were  want¬ 
ing  in  schools  which  it  is  not,  still  the  college  would 
be  a  very  objectionable  school  from  various  causes 
connected  with  the  mode  of  maintenance,  and  the 


BARBADOS, 


55 


contact  with  slaves ;  which  it  is  not  necessary  to 
specify  here  ;  but  in  reality,  as  a  school,  the  college 
is  lost  for  all  great  purposes  of  improvement ;  it 
may  or  may  not  exist  without  affecting  the  state  of 
society  in  the  smallest  degree  ;  what  is  done  there 
is  not  done  well,  and  yet  done  at  an  enormous 
expense.  As  good  colonial  Latin  and  Greek,  as 
far  as  Virgil  and  the  Analecta  Minora,  and  much 
better  manners  may  be  more  cheaply  taught  in 
other  parts  of  the  island ;  and  the  support  of  the 
boys  from  the  funds  of  the  foundation  is  an  unne¬ 
cessary  and  therefore  improper  act  of  charity. 

A  great  desideratum  in  the  West  Indies  is  a  place 
of  study  and  retirement  for  young  men.  As  it  is, 
those,  who  cannot  afford  the  heavy  expense  of 
going  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge,  are  obliged  to  break 
off  the  unfinished  work  of  instruction,  to  set  up  at 
seventeen  or  eighteen  for  men,  and  undertake  the 
charge  of  duties  for  which  they  are  utterly  unquali¬ 
fied.  They  come  away  from  school  half  educated 
in  heart  and  intellect,  and  are  then  for  the  most 
part  placed  in  situations,  where  every  temptation 
to  licentiousness  besets  their  path,  and  many  dan¬ 
gerous  privileges  are  of  necessity  committed  to 
their  discretionary  exercise.  With  regard  to  the 
wants  of  the  church,  the  deficiency  is  still  more 
severely  felt ;  the  present  plan  of  general  improve¬ 
ment  demands  such  a  number  of  well  informed 
youths  as  catechists  or  clergymen,  as  the  islands 


56 


BARBADOS. 


under  the  actual  system  of  things  cannot  supply : 
hence  the  necessity  of  bringing  men  from  England, 
who  are  of  course  wholly  unacquainted  with  the 
peculiar  condition  of  the  society  in  the  midst  of 
which  they  are  to  labour,  or  of  employing  in  very 
difficult  enterprizes  persons  who  at  the  best  per¬ 
haps  have  nothing  but  their  good  intentions  to 
recommend  them.  If  the  interval  between  seven¬ 
teen  and  twenty-three  is  hazardous  in  this  country, 
what  must  it  be  in  the  West  Indies,  where  there 
exists  no  retreat  from  the  seductions  of  awakening 
passion,  no  scope  or  aid  for  the  development  of  the 
higher  and  more  latent  powers  of  the  human  mind. 

A  college  upon  the  plan  of  an  university,  that  is 
to  say,  where  a  reasonable  approach  to  universality 
of  instruction  is  proposed,  would  supply  this  defi¬ 
ciency,  remedy  the  consequent  evils,  and  be  a  bless¬ 
ing  and  a  source  of  blessings  to  the  colonies.  Its 
hall  and  lectures  should  be  thrown  open  to  every 
white  resident  in  the  British  West  Indies  ;  for  their 
rooms  and  commons  the  students  should  of  course 
pay,  and  the  surplus  funds  of  the  charity  should  be 
laid  out  in  the  erection  of  fellowships,  in  salaries  to 
professors,  and  prizes  for  youthful  talent.  Tutors 
of  real  zeal  and  undoubted  ability  should  be  provi¬ 
ded  at  all  events,  and  the  Principal  should  be  a  man 
of  that  nerve  and  judgment  which  will  be  requisite 
in  governing  and  defending  a  great  and  novel  insti¬ 
tution.  The  domestic  economy  of  the  college 


BARBADOS. 


57 


would  be  on  a  much  simpler  and  less  expensive 
plan  than  in  our  universities  ;  less  than  half  of 
what  is  now  spent  by  the  Creoles  in  travelling  or 
idleness  would  decently  maintain  them,  and  I  am 
convinced  that  want  of  money  would  never  be  any 
impediment  to  the  full  consummation  of  the  pro¬ 
ject.  The  bishop,  as  visitor,  should  be  made  avail¬ 
able  in  the  way  of  superintendence,  and  perhaps 
order  be  taken  in  the  proper  quarters  for  license 
and  authority  to  confer  the  usual  academical 
degrees. 

The  trustees  of  Codrington  College  comprise  a 
a  large  portion  of  the  learning  and  virtue  of  Eng¬ 
land  ;  their  disinterestedness  is  perfect ;  their  inten¬ 
tions  excellent,  their  care  commendable.  Their 
disposable  funds  are  ample,  and  the  trust  estates 
remarkably  flourishing.  They  deserve  this  pros¬ 
perity  ;  their  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  their  slaves  is 
most  exemplary,  and  they  have  gone  to  the  utmost 
bounds  of  prudence  in  advancing  the  condition  of 
those  negros  whose  happiness  and  salvation  have 
been  committed  to  them.  A  chapel  and  a  school 
have  been  erected  almost  exclusively  for  their  use, 
and  a  clergyman*  fixed  amongst  them  whose  talents, 
kindness  and  simplicity  of  manners  are  not  more 
remarkable  than  his  judgment  and  his  piety.  The 
attorney  and  manager  are  both  of  established  cha- 

*  The  Rev.  John  H.  Pinder. 

G* 


58 


BARBADOS. 


racter,  the  buildings,  especially  the  hospital,  in  good 
order,  and  the  negro  huts  comfortable.  Under 
these  circumstances,  and  with  these  means  in  their 
possession,  the  trustees  incur  a  heavy  responsi¬ 
bility;  they  have  indeed  a  perfect  right  to  assume 
the  power  of  providing  in  a  Christian  manner  for 
slaves  in  a  Christian  land,  and  they  should  treat  all 
malignant  insinuations  of  breach  of  trust,  with  a 
righteous  scorn  ;  but  they  must  at  the  same  time 
remember  that  the  object  of  the  charity  is  to  edu¬ 
cate  the  whites,  and  let  not  them  or  the  public  think 
this  object  exclusive  of  the  other ;  so  far  from  it,  1 
am  convinced  that  one  of  the  most  effectual  mea¬ 
sures  for  bettering  the  slaves  would  be  a  thorough 
and  humanizing  education  of  the  masters  them¬ 
selves.  Towards  the  attainment  of  this  most  desi¬ 
rable  end,  not  only  in  Barbados,  but  ultimately 
throughout  the  whole  British  West  Indies,  no  man, 
or  society  of  men,  possesses  so  great  means  as  the 
trustees  of  this  institution,  not  merely  from  large 
and  unfettered  funds,  but  also  from  superior  know¬ 
ledge  and  freedom  from  prejudice.  In  all  the 
widely  extended  operations  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  foreign  parts,  there  is 
no  instrument  so  ready,  so  safe,  so  prolific  of  future 
good  as  this  college  is,  or  may  be  made  to  be ;  and 
without  pretending  to  dictate  to,  or  even  admonish, 
the  members  of  that  venerable  body,  I  cannot  re¬ 
frain  from  exhorting  them  most  earnestly  to  draw 


BARBADOS. 


59 


this  object  closer  to  them  than  heretofore,  and  exa¬ 
mine  with  hope  and  faith  into  its  capabilities  of 
perfection. 

There  are  eleven  churches  in  Barbados,  one 
large  chapel,  called  All  Saints,  the  chapel  in  the 
College,  and  the  above  mentioned  chapel  on  the 
Society’s  estate ;  a  new  church  is  now  building  in 
Bridge  Town,  and  all  these  are  in  a  very  respecta¬ 
ble  preservation.  Another  place  of  worship  is  still 
much  wanted  in  the  southern  quarter  of  the  town 
called  the  Bay,  and  one  even  more  so  in  the  sea¬ 
side  parts  of  St.  Philip’s  parish.  That  there  should 
be  no  church  for  the  garrison,  with  an  establish¬ 
ment  of  not  less  than  two  thousand  persons  of  one 
sort  or  another,  is  a  disgraceful  circumstance,  which 
it  is  to  be  hoped  the  proper  department  at  home 
will  not  suffer  to  remain  much  longer.  As  it  is,  1 
trust  it  is  no  calumny,  or  even  a  great  reflection,  to 
say,  that  the  military,  ladies  and  all  are  forced  to 
live  without  any  observance  of  any  religious  wor¬ 
ship  whatever.  The  reading  of  a  few  prayers  in 
the  open  parade  ground  by  the  chaplain  is  really  a 
complete  farce,  and  so  understood  to  be. 


TRINIDAD. 


After  about  seven  weeks  residence  in  Barbados, 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  accompanying  the  new  bishop 
in  his  first  visitation  of  his  diocese.  We  were  ac¬ 
commodated  in  the  most  comfortable  manner  by 
Captain  Lawrence  of  H.  M.  S.  Eden,  sloop  of 
war,  and  set  sail  for  the  south  on  Tuesday  evening 
the  22d  of  March.  We  sighted  Tobago  on  the 
larboard  beam  on  the  24th,  and  were  so  baffled  by 
light  heading  winds  that  we  did  not  make  the  land 
of  Trinidad  till  the  afternoon  of  the  25th.  The 
full  moon  was  shooting  a  wild  and  lustrous  glare 
through  the  crevices  of  a  black  mass  of  clouds, 
which  hung  half  way  down  the  mountains  of  the 
Main,  when  we  sailed  with  a  fresh  breeze  through 
the  Boca  Grande  into  the  beautiful  gulf  of  Paria. 
This  passage  is  about  four  or  five  miles  wide,  and 
as  I  gazed  with  intense  interest  for  the  first  time 
upon  the  shores  of  South  America,  I  could  not  help 
thinking  that  the  fitful  glare  and  the  dark  atmo¬ 
sphere  formed  together  an  impressive  emblem  of 
the  present  state  of  that  mighty  continent.  “  May 
thy  darkness,”  I  murmured,  “  thy  moral  and  reli- 


TRINIDAD. 


GJ 


gious  darkness  pass  away  from  thee,  and  light,  and 
truth,  and  freedom,  shine  around  thee  hereafter  in 
pure  and  unbroken  splendour.” 

The  Sensual  and  the  Dark  rebel  in  vain, 

Slaves  by  their  own  compulsion. 

We  anchored  that  night  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  north  of  Chaguaramus  Bay,  memorable  as  the 
scene  of  the  capture  of  the  island  by  Sir  Ralph 
Abercrombie.  Hereupon  they  tell  the  following 
story  in  Port  of  Spain.  Admiral  Apodaca,  having 
with  great  gallantry  burnt  all  his  own  ships  except 
one  74,  rode  off  to  the  town  as  fast  as  his  horse 
would  carry  him,  and  himself  announced  the  event 
to  the  astonished  governor  Chacon.  “Only  one 
ship  has  fallen  into  the  enemy’s  hands !  I  have 
burnt  the  rest,”  said  the  admiral :  “  Burnt !  burnt !” 
replied  the  governor ;  “  but  have  you  saved  no¬ 
thing?”  “Si,  Senor,”  exclaimed  Apodaca  with 

Castilian  enthusiasm,  “  I  have  saved - Santiago  de 

Compostella !” 

- et  ostendit  signum  fatale  Jacobi. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  excellent  Chacon  was  dis¬ 
graced,  and  the  scoundrel  Admiral,  whom  the  Spa¬ 
nish  government  ought  to  have  requested  the  Eng¬ 
lish  to  shoot  on  the  quarter  deck  of  the  only  ship 
which  he  could  not  destroy,  was  eventually  pro¬ 
moted. 

We  weighed  anchor  with  the  morning  breeze, 


62 


TRINIDAD. 


and  stood  down  gently  before  its  refreshing  breath 
to  the  modern  capital  of  the  colony.  I  shall  not 
be  weak  enough  to  attempt  a  detailed  description 
of  the  enchanting  scenery  which  presented  itself 
to  us ;  nothing  but  painting  could  hope  even  faintly 
to  convey  an  image  of  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Temperate  Zone.  Its  parts  may  be  just  mention¬ 
ed,  and  the  imaginations  of  my  readers  may  com¬ 
bine  and  colour  them  as  they  please,  sure  that,  let 
them  conceive  as  deeply  and  as  richly  as  they  may, 
they  will  never  attain  to  an  adequate  notion  of  the 
unspeakable  loveliness  of  the  original.  The  Gulf 
of  the  purest  ultramarine,  just  wreathed  into  a 
smile  and  no  more ;  on  the  right  hand  the  moun¬ 
tains  of  Cumana  with  their  summits  lost  in  the 
clouds;  on  the  left  the  immense  precipices  of  Tri¬ 
nidad  covered  to  the  extremest  height  with  gigantic 
trees  which  seemed  to  swim  in  the  middle  ether; 
the  margin  fringed  with  the  evergreen  mangroves, 
which  were  here  hanging  with  their  branches  bathed 
in  the  water,  and  there  themselves  rising  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  soft  waves ;  behind  us  the  four  mouths 
of  the  Dragon  of  Columbus  with  the  verdant  crag¬ 
gy  isles  between  them :  before  us  Port  of  Spain 
with  its  beautiful  churches,  the  great  Savana,  and 
the  closing  hills  of  Montserrat.  Meanwhile  the 
Eden  gracefully  bent  beneath  the  freshening  wind, 
(no  other  ship  should  ever  sail  on  this  lake  of 
Paradise  ;)  the  long  dark  canoes  glanced  by  us  with 


TRINIDAD. 


63 


their  white  sails  almost  kissing  the  sea,  and  enor¬ 
mous  whales  ever  and  anon  lifted  their  monstrous 
bodies  quite  out  of  the  water  in  strange  gambols, 
and  falling  down  created  a  tempest  around  them, 
and  shot  up  columns  of  silver  foam.  We  came  to 
anchor  two  miles  from  shore,  and  had  a  boat  race 
in  the  evening. 

Port  of  Spain  is  by  far  the  finest  town  I  saw  in 
the  West  Indies.  The  streets  are  wide,  long,  and 
laid  out  at  right  angles ;  no  house  is  now  allowed 
to  be  built  of  wood,  and  no  erection  of  any  sort 
can  be  made  except  in  a  prescribed  line.  There 
is  a  public  walk  embowered  in  trees  amd  similar  in 
all  respects  to  the  Terreiro  in  Funchal,  and  a  spa¬ 
cious  market  place  with  a  market  house  or  sham¬ 
bles  in  excellent  order  and  cleanliness.  The  Spa¬ 
nish  and  French  females,  their  gay  costume,  their 
foreign  language,  and  their  unusual  vivacity  gives 
this  market  the  appearance  of  a  merry  fair  in 
France.  The  protestant  church  is  beautifully  situ¬ 
ated,  with  a  large  inclosed  lawn  in  front  of  it,  which 
is  surrounded  on  two  sides  by  the  best  houses  in 
the  town.  The  church  itself  is  one  of  the  most 
elegant  and  splendid  things  in  the  empire;  it  is 
wainscotted  with  the  various  rich  woods  of  the 
island,  and  the  pews  are  arranged  with  not  more 
regularity  than  with  a  liberal  consideration  of  the 
feelings  of  the  coloured  people.  These  last  sit  in 
the  area  towards  the  western  end,  and  the  difference 


64 


TRINIDAD. 


of  their  accommodation  from  that  of  the  whites  is 
scarcely  perceptible.  This  circumstance  is  credit¬ 
able  to  the  colony,  and  might  well  be  imitated  in 
some  other  of  the  islands.  There  are  no  aisles, 
the  roof  sweeping  in  an  elliptical  arch  from  side  to 
side  ;  the  altar,  the  western  door,  the  organ  and 
staircase,  are  all  in  a  corresponding  style  of  rich¬ 
ness  and  propriety.  It  is  more  worthy  of  the  town, 
as  it  now  is ;  it  will  be  fit  for  it  when  it  has  become 
a  city.  When  viewed  from  without  it  seems  to 
want  height,  and  though  they  say  it  cannot  be  better 
than  it  is,  I  must  own  I  think  the  coup  d’  ceil  of  the 
building  and  Port  of  Spain  itself  would  be  much 
improved  by  a  greater  elevation  of  the  tower. 
There  would  be  no  impiety  in  such  a  thing  here  as 
in  Barbados,  for  the  hurricanes  have  never  ventured 
so  low  as  Trinidad.*  In  another  part  of  the  town 
is  an  unfinished  church  for  the  Romanists ;  there  is 
no  roof  as  yet,  but  what  is  perfected  is  of  even  a 
still  more  costly  and  exquisite  character  than  our 
own.  The  lateral  walls  certainly  appear  too  thin 
to  be  able  to  support  any  weight  laid  upon  them, 
but  Abbe  Legoffe  has  no  fears  on  that  head,  and  the 
facetious  Abbe  is  a  competent  judge.  At  present 
the  Romish  service  is  enacted  in  a  very  rude  chapel 
of  wood,  from  which  they  are  obliged  during  Lent 

*  I  regret  exceedingly  to  hear  that  earthquakes  have 
visited  this  island,  and  that  serious  injury  has  been  done 
to  this  church  and  the  government  house. 


TRINIDAD. 


65 


to  extend  awnings  into  the  street  to  afford  a  tempo- 
rary  receptacle  for  the  worshippers  who  crowd  in 
from  the  country. 

St.  Anne’s,  the  residence  of  Sir  Ralph  Wood- 
ford,  stands  on  a  very  gentle  slope  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  town ;  the  mountain  forests  rise 
almost  immediately  behind  it,  whilst  the  lawn  and 
shrubbery  give  much  of  an  English  air  to  the  whole 
place.  There  are  some  rare  and  valuable  plants 
here,  introduced  by  the  governor,  such  as  the  nut¬ 
meg,  which  was  flourishing  in  great  vigour,  the  cin¬ 
namon  and  the  clove.  The  nutmeg  is  a  tree,  and 
uncommonly  beautiful ;  the  others  were  bushes. 
The  house,  though  plain,  is  beyond  measure  com¬ 
fortable,  and  it  will  be  some  time  before  I  forget 
the  luxury  of  its  matchless  bath.  The  town,  the 
church  and  the  gulf  lie  in  sight,  and  within  a  mile 
is  the  entrance  of  the  famous  valley  of  Maraval, 
and  still  farther  on  the  coast  the  less  celebrated  but 
beautiful  vale  of  Diego  Martin  with  its  single  silk- 
cotton  tree*  prevailing  over  it  in  desolate  majesty. 
1  hope  that  noble  ornament  of  the  place  will  never 
be  cut  down  ;  it  is  but  one,  and  let  it  remain  amidst 
the  softer  cultivation  around  it,  to  show  hereafter 
what  harvests  the  earth  once  bore  upon  its  bosom 
there.  At  about  twenty  feet  from  the  ground  the 
trunk  of  the  silk-cotton  tree  diverges  into  buttresses 


*  Bombax  Ceiba. 
7 


GG  ' 


TRINIDAD. 


of  great  prominence  and  size,  so  that  if  a  covering 
were  thrown  over  them,  a  very  tolerable  set  of  bar¬ 
racks  might  be  organized  for  one  man  each  round 
the  enormous  stem. 

I  love  to  recollect  the  days  which  I  spent  in  Tri¬ 
nidad,  and  would  fain  record  some  of  their  events 
whilst  the  impressions  which  they  made  are  still 
fresh  upon  my  mind.  Gentle  reader,  whilst  thou 
pokest  thy  coal  fire,  and  cleavest  to  the  grate  as  if 
Satan  were  at  thy  back,  think,  O  !  think  of  the 
mercury  at  94°  of  Fahrenheit. 

On  a  morning  of  such  a  temper,  the  elixir  cup  of 
coffee  being  first  duly  quaffed,  we,  that  is  to  say,  the 
governor,  the  bishop,  his  lordship’s  two  chaplains, 
your  poor  book-maker  and  an  honest  man,  Sainthill 
by  name,  started  in  landau  and  four,  and  in  gig  and 
one  for  La  Pastora  the  residence  of  Antonio  Gomez. 
And  first  we  stopped  at  the  governor’s  grog  shop, 
the  trivial  name  of  a  crystal  spring  which  has  been 
taught  to  gush  forth  from  a  rock  on  the  way-side 
into  a  neat  stone  bason,  whereat  under  the  shade  of 
a  spreading  evergreen  the  dark  ladies  of  the  country 
rejoice  to  lave  their  dusty  feet,  and  indue  the  snowy 
stocking  and  the  coloured  shoe  or  ever  they  enter 
the  gallant  streets  of  Puerto  de  Espana.  Then  we 
rambled  on  between  hedges  and  trees,  now  in  lanes 
and  now  in  roads,  leaving  the  little  village  of  San 
Juan  on  the  right,  and  crossing  many  a  clear  and 
brawling  brook  till  we  arrived,  well  toasted,  at  the 
sweet  spot  where  wc  were  to  breakfast. 


TRINIDAD. 


G7 


Antonio  Gomez’  plantation  of  cacao  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  island.  It  lies  on  a  very  slight  declivity 
at  the  bottom  of  a  romantic  amphitheatre  of  woody 
mountains.  His  house,  together  with  the  works  of 
the  estate,  is  situated  at  the  edge  of  the  trees,  and  a 
quieter  or  more  lovely  spot  no  hermit  ever  chose 
to  count  his  beads  in  for  eternity  !  The  cacao, 
which  grows  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  is  a 
delicate  plant,  and  like  a  lady,  cannot  bear  expo¬ 
sure  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun ;  for  this  reason  a 
certain  portion  of  the  wood  is  thinned  and  appro¬ 
priated,  the  tall  and  umbrageous  trees  are  left,  and 
these  form  with  their  interwoven  branches  and 
evergreen  leaves  a  sun-proof  skreen,  under  cover  of 
which  the  cacao  flourishes  in  luxuriance  and  pre¬ 
serves  her  complexion.  At  a  distance  the  planta¬ 
tion  has  the  appearance  of  a  forest  advantageously 
distinguished  by  the  long  bare  stems  of  tropic  growth 
being  shrouded  with  the  rich  green  of  the  cacaos 
below,  and  here  and  there  burning  and  flashing  with 
the  flame-coloured  foliage  of  the  glorious  Bois  Im- 
mortel.  One  main  road  led  through  the  plantation, 
and  numberless  avenues  diverged  from  it  to  every 
other  part.  These  alleys,  as  well  as  the  whole 
plantation  itself,  were  fringed  with  coffee  bushes, 
which  with  their  dark  Portugal  laurel  leaves,  jasmine 
blossoms  and  most  subtle  and  exquisite  perfume  re¬ 
freshed  the  senses  and  delighted  the  imagination. 
Water  flowed  in  abundance  through  the  wood,  and 


G3 


TElftlDAD. 


gentle  breezes  fanned  us  as  we  sauntered  along.  If 
ever  I  turn  planter,  as  I  have  often  had  thoughts  of 
doing,  I  shall  buy  a  cacao  plantation  in  Trinidad. 
The  cane  is,  no  doubt,  a  noble  plant,  and  perhaps 
crop  time  presents  a  more  lively  and  interesting 
scene  than  harvest  in  England ;  but  there  is  so 
much  trash,  so  many  ill-odoured  ncgros,  so  much 
scum  and  sling  and  molasses  that  my  nerves  have 
sometimes  sunken  under  it.  “  The  sweat  negocia- 
tion  of  sugar,”  as  old  Ligon  calls  it,  is  indeed  a 
sweaty  affair;  and  methinks  it  were  not  good  for 
that  most  ancient  and  most  loyal  colony,  Barbados, 
that  her  sons  should  often  visit  the  sylvan  glades, 
the  deep  retreats,  the  quiet  and  the  coolness  of  the 
cacao  plantations  in  Trinidad.  But  planters  are 
not  poetical.  Sugar  can  surely  never  be  cultivated 
in  the  West  Indies  except  by  the  labour  of  negros, 
but  I  should  think  white  men,  creoles  or  not,  might 
do  all  the  work  of  a  cacao  plantation.  The  trouble 
of  preparing  this  article  for  exportation  is  actually 
nothing  when  compared  with  the  process  of  making 
sugar.  But  the  main  and  essential  difference  is, 
that  the  whole  cultivation  and  manufacture  of  cacao 
is  carried  on  in  the  shade.  People  must  come  be¬ 
tween  Cancer  and  Capricorn  to  understand  this. 

I  was  well  tired  when  we  got  back  to  Antonio’s 
house.  What  a  pleasant  breakfast  we  had,  and 
what  a  cup  of  chocolate  they  gave  me  by  way  of 
a  beginning!  So  pure,  so  genuine,  with  such  a 


TRINIDAD. 


69 


divine  aroma  exhaling  from  it!  Mercy  on  me! 
what  a  soul-stifling  compost  of  brown  sugar,  pow¬ 
dered  brick  and  rhubarb  have  I  not  swallowed  in 
England  instead  of  the  light  and  exquisite  cacao! 

N'fyn'ios*  a XX’  ovx  av&ig- - 

I  love  the  Spanish  ladies  to  my  heart;  after  my 
own  dear  and  beautiful  countrywomen  I  think  a 
senorita  would  be  my  choice.  Their  dress  is  so 
gay  yet  so  modest,  their  walk  so  noble,  their  man¬ 
ners  so  quiet,  so  gentle  and  so  collected.  They 
have  none  of  that  undue  vivacity,  that  much  ado 
about  nothing,  that  animal  conceit  which  disgusts 
me  in  the  Gauls.  A  Spanish  woman,  whether  her 
education  have  been  as  finished  or  not,  is  in  her 
nature  a  superior  being.  Her  majestic  forehead, 
her  dark  and  thoughtful  eye  assure  you  that  she 
hath  communed  with  herself.  She  can  bear  to  be 
left  in  solitude ;  yet  what  a  look  is  hers,  if  she  is 
animated  by  mirth  or  love !  Then,  like  a  goddess, 
she  launches  forth  that  subtle  light  from  within, 

Ce  trait  de  feu  qui  des  yeux  passe  a  fame, 

De  Pame  aux  sens. 

She  is  poetical  if  not  a  poet,  her  imagination  is  high 
and  chivalrous,  and  she  speaks  the  language  in 
which  romance  was  born.  It  is  a  favourite  subject 
of  exultation  with  me  that  twenty-two*  millions  of 

*  So  says  the  all  accomplished  Humboldt,  and  it  can¬ 
not  be  much  less. 


70 


TRINIDAD. 


people  speak  English  or  Spanish  in  the  New  World, 
Their  grammar  and  accent  are  perfectly  pure  in 
Trinidad,  but,  like  all  the  South  Americans,  they 
have  deflected  from  the  standard  of  Castilian  pro¬ 
nunciation.* 

Soledad  !  thou  w  ilt  never  read  this  book  ;  few  of 
those  who  will  can  ever  know  thee,  and  I  shall 
never  see  thee  again  on  this  side  of  the  grave. 
Therefore  I  write  thy  name  wrhilst  I  yet  remember 
thy  face  and  hear  thy  voice,  thou  sweet  and  inge¬ 
nious  girl !  And  so  having  shaken  hands  with  kind 
Antonio  and  his  lady,  with  Patrica,  and  Dolores, 
and  Lorenza,  and  all  of  them,  we  mounted  our 
horses  and  took  our  leave. 

We  returned  by  another  route  through  the 
woods,  ascended  a  narrow  pass  called  the  Saddle, 
if  I  recollect  right,  and  came  in  at  the  head  of 
Maraval.  We  rode  quite  through  this  most  lovely 
valley,  and  got  back  to  St.  Anne’s  tired,  delighted 
and  burnt  to  brick  Just.  The  heat  in  the  valleys 
is  generally  intense,  as  the  great  height  of  the 
mountains  on  either  side  excludes  the  wind  and 
the  rays  of  the  vertical  sun  are  collected  almost 
into  a  focus.  After  resting  and  eating  sufficiently, 
we  went  on  board  the  Eden  for  an  excursion  to 

*  They  sound  c  as  s,  and  z  as  in  English,  thus  ap¬ 
proaching  towards  the  dialect  of  Portugal.  By  dialect 
I  mean  language,  for  Portugueze  is  as  ancient  and  inde¬ 
pendent  a  derivative  of  Latin  as  Castilian  itself. 


TRINIDAD. 


n 


San  Fernandez  or  Petit  Bourg,  a  village  of  some 
importance  about  twenty  miles  or  more  on  the 
coast  to  the  south.  However  the  wind  failed  and 
we  all  left  His  Majesty’s  ship,  like  uncourteous 
knaves  as  we  were,  and  got  into  the  steam-boat 
which  attended  upon  us. 

Sir  Ralph  Woodford  told  us  that  when  this 
steamer  was  first  started,  he  and  a  large  party,  as  a 
mode  of  patronizing  the  undertaking,  took  a  trip  of 
pleasure  in  her  through  some  of  the  Bocas  into  the 
main  ocean.  Almost  every  one  got  sick  outside, 
and  as  they  returned  through  the  Boca  Grande, 
there  was  no  one  on  deck  but  the  man  at  the  helm 
and  himself.  When  they  were  in  the  middle  of  the 
passage,  a  small  privateer,  such  as  commonly  in¬ 
fested  the  gulf  during  the  troubles  in  Colombia, 
was  seen  making  all  sail  for  the  shore  of  Trinidad. 
Her  course  seemed  unaccountable,  but  what  was 
their  surprize,  when  they  observed  that  on  nearing 
the  coast  the  privateer  never  tacked,  and  finally 
that  she  ran  herself  directly  on  shore,  her  crew  at 
the  same  time  leaping  out  over  the  bows  and  sides 
of  the  vessel,  and  scampering  off,  as  if  they  were 
mad,  some  up  the  mountains  and  others  into  the 
thickets.  This  was  so  strange  a  sight,  that  Sir 
Ralph  Woodford  ordered  the  helmsman  to  steer  for 
the  privateer,  that  he  might  discover  the  cause  of 
it.  When  they  came  close,  the  vessel  appeared 
deserted ;  Sir  Ralph  went  on  board  of  her,  and 


72 


TRINIDAD* 


after  searching  various  parts  without  finding  any 
one,  he  at  length  opened  a  little  side  cabin  and  saw 
a  man  lying  on  a  mat  evidently  with  some  broken 
limb.  The  man  made  an  effort  to  put  himself  in  a 
posture  of  supplication ;  he  was  pale  as  ashes,  his 
teeth  chattered  and  his  hair  stood  on  end.  “  Mise- 
ricordia!  misericordia  !  Ave  Maria  !55  faltered  forth 
the  Colombian.  Sir  Ralph  asked  the  man  what 
wras  the  cause  of  the  strange  conduct  of  the  crew; 
*c  Misericordia  !’5  was  the  only  reply. 

I  Sabeis  quien  soy  ?*  said  the  governor. 

“  El ...  el ...  O  Senor  !  Misericordia !  Ave  Ma¬ 
ria  !55  answered  the  smuggler. 

It  was  a  considerable  time  before  the  fellow 
could  be  brought  back  to  his  senses,  when  he  gave 
this  account  of  the  matter  ; . . .  that  they  saw  a 
vessel  apparently  following  them,  with  only  two 
persons  on  board,  and  steering,  without  a  single 
sail,  directly  in  tne  teeth  of  the  wind,  current  and 
tide ; 

Against  the  breeze,  against  the  tide 
She  steadied  with  upright  keel. 

That  they  knew  no  ship  could  move  in  such  a 
course  by  human  means ;  that  they  heard  a  deep 
roaring  noise  and  saw  an  unusual  agitation  of  the 
water,  which  their  fears  magnified ;  finally  that 
they  concluded  it  to  be  a  supernatural  appearance. 

*  “  Do  you  know’  who  I  am.” 


TRINIDAD. 


73 


accordingly  drove  their  own  vessel  ashore  in  an 
agony  of  terror  and  escaped  as  they  could;  that 
he  himself  was  not  able  to  move,  and  that,  when 
he  heard  Sir  Ralph’s  footsteps,  he  verily  and  indeed 
believed  that  he  was  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Evil  Spirit. 

We  arrived  late  at  San  Fernandez  and  had  then 
to  ride  seven  or  eight  miles  into  the  interior  to 
Mr.  Mitchell’s  residence  in  the  district  of  Napa- 
rima.  The  commandant’s  house,  like  most  of  those 
in  the  heart  of  the  island,  was  of  a  different  cha- 
racter  from  any  that  I  had  seen  before.  It  was 
not  so  much  an  English  planter’s  mansion  as  the 
spacious  shed  of  an  Indian  chief.  Its  appear¬ 
ance,  both  outside  and  within,  was  nearly  that  of 
a  substantial  barn,  except  indeed  that  the  roof 
was  thatched  in  a  very  neat  manner  with  branches 
of  the  caratt  palm,  the  pigeons  perched  on  the 
cross  beams,  and  the  winds  from  half  the  points 
of  the  compass  blew  in  through  the  open  galleries. 
Our  dinner,  which  was  my  third  one  on  that  day, 
was  in  excellent  keeping.  Mrs.  M.  an  agreeable 
Scotch  lady,  had  despatched  her  matador  to  the 
Bush,  as  the  native  forest  is  called,  for  delicacies, 
and  he  had  been  tolerably  fortunate.  Ah  me !  how 
we  revelled  on  His  Majesty’s  wild  hogs,  smacked 
our  lips  over  an  agouti,  and  chuckled  over  a  tender 
lapp.  A  stately  palmeto  had  been  decapitated  to 
afford  us  a  dish  of  cabbage,  a  thing  by  the  by  which 


74 


TRINIDAD. 


the  veracious  Dr.  Pinchard  implies  of  Barbados, 
where  such  atrocities  are  never  dreamt  of.  True 
it  is  that  Mrs.  M.  lamented  with  many  apologies 
that  she  had  not  been  able  to  give  us  a  monkey  or 
a  guana,  and  the  great,  drought  made  the  best  snakes 
shy  and  difficult  to  be  caught.  However  we  rough¬ 
ed  it  on  porter  and  madeira,  and  were  glad  to  retire 
to  rest  early.  I  slept  on  a  sofa  in  the  parlour. 
How  often  did  I  start  up  in  the  night  at  the  rustling 
of  the  wind  in  the  palm  leaves,  and  see  with  mo¬ 
mentary  alarm  the  sparkles  of  fire  which  were  ever 
and  anon  bursting  forth  from  the  roof!  Sometimes 
one  whole  side  of  the  room  was  distinctly  illumina¬ 
ted  by  a  congregation  of  the  flies ;  at  others  the 
single  lamp  just  shot  out  its  flame  and  then  retired 
into  gloom,  as  if  the  darkness  had  its  pulsations  of 
light.  The  dawn  was  ushered  in  by  a  serenade 
from  my  neighbours  the  monkeys  in  the  wood,  who 
set  up  with  one  consent  the  most  inhuman  yell  that 
ever  was  heard  in  this  world.  It  was  something 
between  distant  thunder,  loose  iron  bars  in  a  cart  in 
Fleet  Street,  bagpipes,  and  drunken  men  laughing. 

After  breakfast  we  rode  through  the  yet  half-cul¬ 
tivated  country  in  our  way  to  the  Indian  Mission  at 
Savana  Grande.  Nothing  can  be  more  wretched 
than  the  appearance  of  the  land  in  the  first  process 
of  clearing  ;  fire  is  the  principal  agent,  and  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  earth  is  obstructed  with  trunks  and 
branches  of  trees  black  and  ghastly  with  the  confla- 


TRINIDAD. 


75 


gration.  I  am  told  that  these  trees  are  usually  left 
to  rot  away,  as  the  expense  of  drawing  them  oft' 
would  be  too  heavy,  besides  that  the  soil  is  much 
enriched  by  the  immense  deposition  of  vegetable 
matter.  But  the  still  standing  woods  are  magni¬ 
ficent.  The  most  striking  feature  in  their  vegeta¬ 
tion  is  the  parasite  race  of  plants  .  . .  their  variety, 
magnitude  and  colours  are  astonishing.  It  is  often 
difficult  to  distinguish  the  standard  tree  from  the 
luxuriant  weeds  which  interlace  and  enmesh  its 
branches  with  their  tendrils  in  an  indissoluble  union. 
Many  of  these  bear  the  most  gorgeous  flowers  upon 
their  bosoms  of  unfading  green ;  the  wild  pine 
burns  in  the  sun  like  a  topaz  rising  out  of  a  calix 
of  emerald.  From  the  topmost  limbs  of  the  giant 
fathers  of  the  forest  such  as  the  silk-cotton  tree, 
bois  Le  Seur,*  and  various  kinds  of  friguera,  you 
see  the  creeper,  like  a  cord,  hanging  down  150  feet, 
another  grows  down  parallel  with  the  first,  the  wind 
twists  them  together  into  bell-ropes,  as  Ligon  well 
puts  it ;  others  are  successively  united  in  this  way, 
till  at  length  the  creeper,  now  a  stout  sapling,  fixes 
itself  in  the  ground,  takes  root,  and  like  a  graceful 
pillar  supports  the  mighty  architrave  above.  Fresh 
creepers  again  form  a  tracery  round  these  and 
around  the  parent  tree,  and  swell  by  accretion  to 

*  I  do  not  pretend  to  spell  this  word  correctly.  I 
only  caught  it  in  conversation,  and  believe  it  is  some 
man’s  name. 


76 


TRINIDAD, 


such  an  enormous  size,  that  they  put  me  in  mind 
of  the  huge  and  endless  folds  of  the  strangling  ser¬ 
pents  of  the  Laocoon. 

But  nothing  pleased  me  so  much  as  the  cornbird’s 
nest.*  This  bird,  in  order  to  lay  her  eggs  in  safety 
and  defeat  those  ingenious  hidalgos  the  monkeys, 
weaves  a  kind  of  purse  net,  such  as  we  see  used  in 
petty  shops  to  contain  balls  of  twine  and  other 
light  articles.  This  she  suspends  by  a  twisted  cord 
of  creepers  from  the  outermost  limb  of  many  of 
the  great  trees  ;  at  the  bottom  of  the  purse,  which 
is  the  broadest  part,  lies  the  nest,  and  there  she 
swings  away  backwards  and  forwards  before  the 
breeze  in  the  prettiest  manner  imaginable.  I  be¬ 
lieve  she  gets  in  at  the  bottom,  but  the  extreme 
height  prevented  me  from  seeing  the  aperture.  If 
a  man  were  disposed  to  be  fanciful,  he  would  say 
that  the  Indians  borrowed  their  chinchorro  or  ham¬ 
mock  from  the  corn-bird’s  nest,  though  the  bird 
has  the  advantage  a  thousand  times  over  in  airiness 
and  motion.  I  took  some  credit  to  myself,  when 
looking  at  these  nests,  for  the  following  quotation  : 

Hush  a  bye  !  corn-bird  ;  on  the  tree  top 

When  the  wind  blows  thy  cradle  will  rock ; 

If  the  bough  breaks,  thy  cradle  will  fall, 

Then  down  will  come  cradle  and  corn-bird  and  all. 

Every  one,  who  goes  to  Trinidad,  should  make  a 

*  The  oriole  or  sylvia  pensilis  of  Buffon,  I  believe. 


TRINIDAD. 


77 


point  of  visiting  the  Indian  missions  of  Arima  and 
Savana  Grande.  They  are  wholly  unlike  any  thing 
which  I  had  ever  seen  before,  and  differ  as  much 
from  the  negro  yard  on  the  one  hand  as  they  do 
from  an  European-built  town  on  the  other.  The 
village  of  Savana  Grande  consisted  chiefly  of  two 
rows  of  houses  in  parallel  lines  with  a  spacious 
street  or  promenade  between  them,  over  which  there 
was  so  little  travelling  that  the  green  grass  was 
growing  luxuriantly  upon  it.  Each  house  is  insula¬ 
ted  by  an  interval  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet  on  either 
side ;  they  are  large  and  lofty,  and  being  beautifully 
constructed  of  spars  of  bamboo,  and  thatched  with 
palm  branches,  they  are  always  ventilated  in  the 
most  agreeable  manner.  A  projection  of  the  roof 
in  front  is  supported  by  posts,  and  forms  a  shady 
gallery,  under  which  the  Indians  will  sit  for  hours 
together  in  motionless  silence.  They  seem  to  be 
the  identical  race  of  people  whose  forefathers  Co¬ 
lumbus  discovered,  and  the  Spaniards  worked  to 
death  in  Hispaniola.  They  are  short  in  stature, 
(none  that  I  saw  exceeding  five  feet  and  six  inches,) 
yellow  in  complexion,  their  eyes  dark,  their  hair 
long,  lank  and  glossy  as  a  raven’s  wing;  they  have 
a  remarkable  space  between  the  nostrils  and  the 
upper  lip,  and  a  breadth  and  massiveness  between 
the  shoulders  that  would  do  credit  to  the  Farnese 
Ilerculese.  Their  hands  and  feet  are  small-boned 
and  delicately  shaped.  Nothing  seems  to  affect 
8 


78 


TRINIDAD, 


them  like  other  men ;  neither  joy  nor  sorrow* 
anger,  or  curiosity,  take  any  hold  of  them.  Both 
mind  and  body  are  drenched  in  the  deepest  apa¬ 
thy ;  the  children  lie  quietly  on  their  mother’s  bo¬ 
soms  ;  silence  is  in  their  dwellings  and  idlesse  in  all 
their  ways.  Our  party  was  sufficient  of  itself  to 
have  attracted  some  attention,  even  if  the  Padre 
had  not  welcomed  us  with  a  furious  salute  from  his 
two  tin-kettle  bells.  The  Indians  were  all  sum¬ 
moned  forth,  and  the  alcalde  and  the  regidores 
stood  in  front  with  their  wands  of  office.  These 
were  nearly  the  only  signs  of  life  which  they  dis¬ 
played;  they  neither  smiled  or  spoke  or  moved, 
but  stood  like  mortals  in  a  deep  trance  having  their 
eyes  open.  The  governor  gave  a  piece  of  money 
to  each  of  the  children,  which  was  received  with 
scarcely  the  smallest  indication  of  pleasure  or  gra¬ 
titude  by  them  or  their  parents.*  They  were  much 
more  completely  clothed  than  the  negros ;  the  de¬ 
cency  of  the  female  dress  was  conspicuous,  and 
both  the  maiden’s  and  the  mother’s  bosom  were 
modestly  shrouded  from  the  gaze  of  man.  The 
bestial  exposure  of  this  sacred  part  of  a  woman’s 
form  is  the  most  disgusting  thing  in  the  manners  of 
the  West  Indian  slaves.  The  planters  might  and 
ought  to  correct  this. 

*  They  hardly  justify  the  first  part  of  the  remark  of 
Tacitus :  Gaudent  muneribus,  sed  nec  data  imputant- 
nee  acceptis  obligantur. 


TRINIDAD* 


79 


The  amazing  contrast  between  these  Indians 
and  the  negros  powerfully  arrested  my  attention* 
Their  complexions  do  not  differ  so  much  as  their 
minds  and  dispositions.  In  the  first,  life  stagnates: 
in  the  last,  it  is  tremulous  with  irritability.  The 
negros  cannot  be  silent;  they  talk  in  spite  of  them¬ 
selves.  Every  passion  acts  upon  them  with  strange 
intensity;  their  anger  is  sudden  and  furious,  their 
mirth  clamorous  and  excessive,  their  curiosity  au¬ 
dacious,  and  their  love  the  sheer  demand  for  gratifi¬ 
cation  of  an  ardent  animal  desire.  Yet  by  their 
nature  they  are  good-humoured  in  the  highest  de¬ 
gree,  and  I  know  nothing  more  delightful  than  to  be 
met  by  a  group  of  negro  girls,  and  be  saluted  with 
their  kind  “How  d’ye,  massa  ?  how  d’ye,  massa?” 
their  sparkling  eyes  and  bunches  of  white  teeth. 
It  is  said  that  even  the  slaves  despise  the  Indians, 
and  I  think  it  very  probable ;  they  are  decidedly  in¬ 
ferior  as  intelligent  beings.  Indeed  their  history 
and  existence  form  a  deep  subject  for  speculation* 
The  flexibility  of  temper  of  the  rest  of  mankind 
has  been  for  the  most  part  denied  to  them  ;  they 
wither  under  transportation,  they  die  under  labor ; 
they  will  never  willingly  or  generally  amalgamate 
with  the  races  of  Europe  or  Africa  ;  if  left  to 
themselves  with  ample  means  of  subsistence,  they 
decrease  in  numbers  every  year;  if  compelled  to 
any  kind  of  improvement,  they  reluctantly  acqui¬ 
esce,  and  relapse  with  certainty  the  moment  the  ex- 


80 


TRINIDAD*. 


ternal  compulsion  ceases.  They  shrink  before  the 
approach  of  other  nations  as  it  were  b\  instinct ;  they 
are  now  not  known  in  vast  countries  of  which  they 
were  once  the  only  inhabitants;  and  it  should 
almost  seem  that  they  have  been  destined  by  a 
mysterious  Providence  to  people  a  third  part  of  the 
globe,  till  in  the  appointed  time  the  New  World 
should  be  laid  open  to  the  Old,  and  the  ceaseless 
and  irresistible  stream  of  population  from  the  East 
should  reach  them  and  insensibly  sweep  them  from 
off  the  face  of  the  earth.* 


*  The  number  of  Indians  at  Savana  Grande,  is  : 


Men .  43 

Women ,  * . .. . .  56 

Boys  64 

Girls . . .  66 

At  Arima  Men. .  60 

Women... . . . 77 

Boys . 81 

Girls . 60 


Total . . . 507 

The  Trinidad  Almanac  for  1824  states  the  total 
amount  of  Indians  in  the  island  thus  : 

Men . . . 218 

Women . .  234 

Boys  •••.. .  222 

Girls .  210 


Total . . 893 

giving  an  excess  of  only  13  females  over  the  males ^ 
which  I  believe  is  not  according  to  the  due  proportion 
in  countries  where  population  is  on  the  increase. 


TRINIDAD. 


81 


In  this  place  were  assembled  by  the  governor’s 
order  a  division  of  free  negro  settlers,  a  part  of  that 
body  of  slaves  who  were  excited  to  insurrection  in 
some  of  the  southern  states  of  the  North  American 
Union  by  a  British  proclamation  during  the  last 
war,  and  upon  the  ill-success  of  the  expedition 
against  New  Orleans,  were  received  on  board  the 
squadron  commanded  by  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane, 
and  finally  dispersed  about  the  West  Indies,  but 
chiefly,  I  believe,  established  in  Trinidad.  It  was 
a  deed  mali  exempli,  and  one  which  may  be  very 
easily  played  off  hereafter  against  ourselves.  This 
settlement  comprises  about  three  hundred  persons, 
and  a  very  fine  and  jovial  set  of  Yankees  they  are. 
It  happened  to  rain  hard  at  the  time,  and  the  Padre 
of  the  mission  was  courteous  enough  to  proffer  the 
use  of  the  chapel,  into  which  accordingly  we  all 
entered  with  one  consent.  The  Americans  being 
after  some  time  tolerably  composed,  their  men  on 
one  side  and  their  women  and  children  on  the  other ; 
the  bishop  standing  before  the  altar,  (the  pyx  being 
first  duly  removed,)  the  padre  on  the  right  hand,  the 
chaplains  on  the  left,  myself  in  a  corner,  Jos  seno- 
res  regidores,  the  alcaldes  and  cacique  of  the 
Indians  bearing  their  wands  of  office,  and  las 
senoras  their  wives  with  their  patient  babies,  both 
awaiting  in  deep  resignation  the  explanation  of 
this  mystery,  Sir  Ralph  Woodford,  in  Windsor 
uniform,  took  his  Leghorn  hat  from  off  his  head, 
8* 


82 


TRINIDAD* 


vibrated  his  silver-studded  Crowther  with  the  grace 
of  a  Cicero,  and,  as  the  Spaniards  say,  con  gentii 
donayre  y  continente,  in  hunc  modum  locutus  est. 

“Silence  there! ..  .What  for  you  make  all  dat 
dere  noise  ?  Me  no  tand  dat,  me  can  tell  you.  I 
hear  that  there  have  been  great  disturbances 
amongst  you,  that  you  have  been  quarrelling  and 
fighting,  and  that  in  one  case  there  has  been  a  loss 
of  life.  Now,  me  tell  you  all  fiat. .  .me  no  allow 
dat  sort  of  ting. .  .me  take  away  your  cut-lashes,  you 
savey  dat?  What  for  you  fight?  Because  you 
nasty  drunk  with  rum.  You  ought  to  be  ashamed ; 
you  no  longer  now  slave. .  .King  George  hav  tak 
you  from  America,  (you  know  dis  much  better  place 
dan  America,)  he  make  you  freer .  .What  den  ?  Me 
tell  you  all  dis.  •  .(what  far  you  no  make  quiet  your 
piccaninny,*  you  great  tall  ting  dere  ?. .  .)me  tell  you 
dis.  r  rif  you  free,  you  no  idle  you  savey  dat  ?  You 
worky,  but  you  worky  for  yourselve,  and  make 
grow  noice  yams  and  plantains. .  .den  your  wives 
ail  fat,  and  your  piccaninny  tall  and  smooth.  You 
try  to  make  your  picknies  better  and  more  savey 
dan  yourselve.  You  all  stupid. .  .what  den!  no 
your  fault  dat. .  .you  no  help  it.  Now  but  you  free, 
act  for  yourselve  like  buckra,  and  you  love  your 
picnies  ?  yes. .  .well  den,  you  be  glad  to  send  deni 
to  school,  make  dem  read,  write,  savey  counting, 


*  Piccaninny . . ,  quasi  pcqueno  nine. 


TRINIDAD. 


83 

and  able  pray  God  Almighty  in  good  words,  when 
you  no  savey  do  so  yourselve. 

“  Now  de  bishop  is  come  to  do  all  this ;  His 
Majesty  King  George  have  sent  him  from  England 
to  take  care  of  you  and  all  of  us ;  he  is  very  much 
gentleman  and  he  king,  you  savey,  of  all  de  parson. 
He  savey  every  ting  about  you,  he  love  you  dearly, 
he  come  from  England  across  the  sea  to  see  your 
face. .  .no  you  den  very  bad  people,  if  you  no  obey 
him  ?  Yes  you  very  bad,  much  wicked  people  if 
you  don’t.’5 

Finierat  Woodford ;  his  harangue,  of  which  the 
above  is  an  imperfect  sketch,  produced  a  great 
effect,  and  a  murmur  of  applause  arose  from  the 
assembled  Yankees;  then  the  bishop  addressed 
them,  and  as  the  governor  had  laid  down  the  law 
civiliter,  so  he  spoke  to  them  spiritualiter,  his  man¬ 
ner  was  affectionate  and  impressive,  his  matter 
simple  and  cogent,  and  he  concluded  by  solemnly 
blessing  in  the  name  of  God  the  whole  congregation. 
The  padre  was  very  complimentary  in  Andalusian, 
the  negros  elated  in  negro  tongue,  and  the  poor 
dear  Indians  quiet,  staring,  and  as  cognizant  of  the 
nature  of  what  was  going  on  as  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  It  was  altogether  a 
strange  contrast  of  different  natures  and  a  theme  for 
passing  smiles  and  lasting  thoughts. 

According  to  appointment  at  nine  the  next  morn¬ 
ing,  Mr.  Mitchell’s  house  was  surrounded  by  a 


84 


TRINIDAD* 


noisy  multitude  of  men,  women  and  children* 
Some  came  to  be  baptized,  some  to  gossip,  and  some 
to  be  married.  Many  of  the  latter  brought  in  their 
arms  smiling  arguments  that  the  prayers  of  the 
church  for  fecundity  would  be  superfluous.  They 
all  entered  the  house  with  perfect  nonchalance, 
roamed  about  in  every  part  of  it,  and  laughed  and 
gabbled  in  as  unrestrained  a  manner  as  they  would 
have  done  in  their  own  huts.  Mrs.  Mitchell’s  par¬ 
lour,  where  I  had  slept,  was  constituted  baptistery 
and  altar.  A  white  cloth  was  spread  on  the  table, 
and  a  large  glassvase,  filled  with  pure  water,  was 
placed  in  the  middle.  After  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour’s  arduous  exertions  on  the  part  of  the  governor 
and  commandant,  these  light-hearted  creatures  were 
reduced  to  as  low  a  degree  of  noise,  as  their 
natures  would  admit.  The  bishop  then  read  the 
first  part  of  the  service,  the  whole  party  kneeling 
on  the  floor;  but  when  the  rite  of  aspersion  came 
to  be  performed,  there  had  like  to  have  been  a  riot 
from  the  mothers  jockeying  for  the  honour  of  first 
baptism  at  the  bishop’s  hand.  The  two  chaplains 
ministered  till  they  streamed,  and  never  did  I  hear 
such  incessant  squalling  and  screaming  as  arose 
from  the  regenerated  piccaninnies.  I  think  seventy 
were  baptised  and  registered,  which  was  the  most 
laborious  part  of  all.  We  had  some  difficulty  in 
collecting  them  for  the  conclusion  of  the  service, 
but  upon  the  whole  the  adult  negros  behaved  ex,- 


TRINIDAD. 


85 


ceedingly  well,  and  displayed  every  appearance  of 
unfeigned  devotion. 

And  then  came  Hymen !  Bless  thine  eyes,  sweet 
divinity,  how  I  love  thee!  Thou  that  earnest  so 
easily  to  those  poor  votaries,  when  wilt  thou  come 
to  me?  When  wilt  thou  with  a  spark  from  thy 
golden  torch  set  fire  to  political  economy,  and  re¬ 
duce  to  ashes  the  relation  which  sexagenarians  have 
created  between  population  and  the  means  of 
subsistence  ? 

About  a  dozen  couples  were  agreed,  but  seven  or 
eight  more  were  influenced  by  the  sweet  contagion, 
and  struck  up  a  marriage  on  the  spot,  as  we  see 
done  at  the  ends  of  the  old  comedies.  One  woman, 
I  remember,  turned  sulky  and  would  not  come  to 
the  scratch,  but  Chesapeak  her  lover  was  not  to  be 
so  done ;  u  Now  you  savey,  Mol,”  said  he,  “  me  no 
tand  your  shim  shams  ;  me  come  to  be  married,  and 
me  will  be  married ;  you  come  beg  me  when  1  got 
another;”  still  Mol  coquetted  it;  Chesapeak  went 
out,  staid  five  minutes,  and,  as  1  am  a  Christian  man, 
brought  in  a  much  prettier  girl  under  his  arm,  and 
was  married  to  her  forthwith.  I  suppose  Chesa¬ 
peak  had  his  reputation.  I  have  known  cases  in 
England,  where  something  of  this  sort  of  manly 
conduct  would  have  had  a  very  salutary  effect* 
Now  a  grand  difficulty  arose  from  there  being  no 
rings ;  those  in  the  women’s  ears  being  too  large  by 
half.  Hereupon  I  took. .  .not  thy  hair,  my  Euge- 


86 


TRINIDAD. 


nia !  oh  no. .  but  a  gold  hoop  which  my  good  father 
bought  for  me  from  a  wandering  Jew  ;  this  I  proffer¬ 
ed  for  the  service  of  the  sable  bridegrooms,  and  I 
now  wear  it  as  a  sort  of  charm  as  close  as  possible 
to  Eugenia’s  hair.  It  noosed  thirteen  couples.  I 
gave  away  most  of  the  brides  ;  one  of  them,  a  pret¬ 
ty  French  girl  of  the  Romish  faith,  behaved  very 
ill ;  she  giggled  so  much  that  the  clergyman  threat¬ 
ened  to  desist  from  the  ceremony,  and  her  mate,  a 
quiet  and  devout  Protestant,  was  very  angry  with 
her.  When  she  was  kneeling  after  the  blessing,  I 
heard  her  say  to  her  husband,...44  dit-on,  Jean  ! 
hooka  drole  maniere  de  se  marier!  he!  he!  he!” 
I’ll  warrant  she  leads  her  spouse  a  decent  life  of  it. 

The  Pitch  Lake  is  in  this  neighbourhood,  but  I 
was  unable  to  visit  it.  The  roads  are  made  in  a 
great  measure  of  the  bitumen,  and  there  is  a  hot 
calcined  smell  always  issuing  from  it  during  the 
action  of  the  sun  which  is  very  disagreeable.  Re¬ 
peated  experiments  have  been  tried  upon  it,  but 
it  is  found  to  be  unfit,  except  at  an  enormous  cost 
of  preparation,  for  the  use  of  ship-builders. 

St.  Joseph’s,  the  old  capital  of  the  island,  is  dis¬ 
tant  about  ten  miles  from  Port  of  Spain,  and  a  little 
removed  from  the  banks  of  the  river  Caroni.  It 
has  a  fine  parish  church,  with  a  spire,  barracks  for 
a  detachment  of  soldiers  which  is  usually  kept  here, 
and  a  few  good  houses  besides.  Here  it  was  that 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  committed  certain  gentlemanly 


TRINIDAD 


87 


piracies,  when  he  was  on  his  first  voyage  to  discover 
El  Dorado.  The  Spanish  governor,  it  appears,  did 
not  know  his  right  hand  from  his  left,  a  thing  evi¬ 
dently  as  heinous  as  true,  and  which  no  doubt  de¬ 
served  to  be  severely  punished  by  every  English¬ 
man.  The  commanding  officer  here,  Major  Taylor, 
had  the  finest  collection  of  humming  birds  I  ever 
saw.  He  had  shot  and  stuffed  them  all  himself  with 
the  assistance  of  a  small  negro  gamekeeper. 

Arima  is  eight  or  nine  miles  farther  on  and  is  the 
principal  mission  of  the  Indians.  They  have  one 
large  square  and  a  street  or  two,  and  the  buildings 
are  more  substantial  than  at  Savana  Grande.  The 
community  is  opulent  in  plantations  of  cacao,  and 
is  obliged  to  keep  up  a  Casa  Real,  a  prison,  a  large 
church,  two  schools  and  maintain  their  padre.  In¬ 
dians  and  free  negros  are  admitted  into  these  schools, 
but  the  master  of  the  boys  told  me  there  were  no 
slaves.  They  wTere  all  taught  to  read  and  write,  in 
the  last  of  which  the  Indians  seemed  to  excel. 
Some  of  their  copies  were  beautiful  specimens  of 
penmanship.  The  room  was  divided  into  Troja, 
Cartago  and  Roma,  and  the  chief  book  of  instruc¬ 
tion  was  the  old  Caton  Christiano,  which  with  all 
its  Romish  garblings  and  foppery  is  a  very  good 
text  book  for  the  young  savages.  The  horrible 
absurdity  of  the  paintings  in  the  church  exceeded 
any  thing  in  my  experience  of  Romish  licence.  I 
am  sure  the  bishop  of  Gerren  ean  never  approve 


88 


TRINIDAD. 


of  such  gross  blasphemy,  and  it  might  become  him 
to  exert  his  authority  in  putting  an  end  to  its  ex¬ 
istence. 

The  mummeries  of  this  sect  of  Christians  are 
very  comical  in  Trinidad.  During  Passion-week 
the  congregation  regularly  hiss  Judas  out  of  church, 
and  on  the  Saturday  before  Easter  day  he  is  always 
hung  by  the  neck  from  a  very  lofty  gibbet,  and 
assailed  with  stones  and  execrations  by  all  the  de¬ 
vout  part  of  the  mob  of  the  town.  Three  English 
sailors  acquired  considerable  popularity  and  the 
reputation  of  being  good  Catholics  by  hurling  some 
brickbats  at  the  traitor  with  such  success  as  to 
knock  his  head  clean  off  from  his  wicked  shoulders. 

When  I  was  in  this  island,  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  vexatious  confusion  about  the  intermarriages  of 
Protestants  and  Romanists.  Benedict  XIV.  issued 
a  bull  in  1741,  in  which  “  dolens  imprimis  quam 
maxime  Sanctitas  sua,  eos  esse  inter  Catholicos  qui, 
insano  amore  turpiter  dementati,  ab  hisce  detesta- 
bilibus  connubiis,  quae  sancta  Mater  Ecclesia  per- 
petuo  damnavit  atque  interdixit,  exanimo  non  ab¬ 
horrent,  et  prorsus  sibi  abstinendum  non  ducunt 
laudansque  magnopere  zelum  illorum  Antistitum, 
qui  severioribus  propositis,  spiritualibus  poenis  Ca¬ 
tholicos  coercere  student,  ne  sacrilego  hoc  vinculo 
sese  Haereticis  conjungant,  Episcopos  omnes,  Vica- 
rios  Apostolicos,  Parochos,  Missionaries,  et  alios 
quoscunque  Dei  et  Ecclesiae  fideles  ministros  in  iis 


TRINIDAD. 


89 


partibus  degentes  serio  graviterque  hortatur  et 
monet,  ut  Catholicos  utriusque  sexus  ab  hujusmodi 
nuptiis  in  propriarum  animarum  perniciem  ineun- 

dis,  quantum  possint,  abstineant. 

*  *  *  * 

“At  si  forte”  (there’s  a  peacemaker  for  your 
money  after  all  those  hard  words!)  “  at  si  forte,’ 
but  if  by  chance,  says  the  Pope,  there  should  be  a 
few  graceless  rogues  who  will  fall  in  love  with  a 
beautiful  Protestant,  why  then  in  such  a  case,  much 
indeed  against  the  poor  gentleman’s  inclination,  but 
still  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  His  Holi¬ 
ness  allows  the  marriage,  and  at  the  same  time 
orders  the  sinner,  as  soon  as  the  wedding  is  over, 
“  ut  pro  gravissimo  scelere ,  quod  admisit,*  pceniten - 
dam  agat ,  et  veniam  a  Deo  precetur.”  So  here  we 
have  the  Pope  first  denouncing  a  thing  as  a  mortal 
sin,  then  permitting  the  sin  to  be  committed,  then 
sanctioning  the  sin  by  what  he  calls  a  sacrament, 
and  then  declaring  that  this  sacramentary  rite  was 
all  the  while  a  most  flagitious  crime,  and  enjoining 
penitence  and  petition  to  God  for  a  pardon  of  the 
same!  Comfortable  pastime  for  a  honeymoon,  by 
my  faith ! 

However  this  licence  for  committing  an  atrocious 
sin,  gravissimum  scelus,  was  only  sold  to  the  Dutch 

*  I  doubt  if  the  Provost  of  Eton  would  forgive  the 
Pope  himself  his  bad  Latin. 

9 


90  TRINIDAD. 

and  some  few  others ;  and  the  difficulty  has  been  to 
get  it  extended  to  our  colonies  where  there  is  a  Ro¬ 
mish  population.  The  good  and  sensible  Bishop  of 
Gerren  has  exerted  himself  very  much  in  this  be¬ 
half,  and  has  at  length  succeeded  in  eliciting  from 
Leo.  XII.  a  permit  to  Catholics  to  lead  about  a 
heretic  wife  with  them.  It  was  a  pity  to  be  obli¬ 
ged  to  excommunicate  so  many  respectable  young 
gentleman  who  could  not  resist  the  assault  of  an 
English  eye  or  the  provocation  of  an  English  com¬ 
plexion.  The  poor  Bishop  could  not  make  up  his 
mind  to  it.  Indeed  he  hardly  hates  heretics  with 
any  decent  malignity. 

There  is  a  school  in  Port  of  Spain  very  liberally 
maintained,  in  which  English,  Spaniards,  and  French 
are  taught  indifferently  upon  the  plan  of  the  na¬ 
tional  instruction  in  England.  The  boys  read  and 
repeat  English  so  well  that  it  is  diffcult  to  detect 
the  foreign  accent ;  they  all  use  the  authorized  ver¬ 
sion  of  the  New  Testament,  and  say  the  church  ca¬ 
techism.  This  school  however  was  not  in  good 
order ;  and  the  master,  though  an  able  man,  had  the 
reputation  of  being  an  irregular  character  and  very 
neglectful  of  his  duty. 

The  jail  is  the  best  in  the  Antilles,  and  really  is 
respectable.  An  honest  tread-wheel  has  been 
wisely  provided,  and  this  grand  invention  has  been 
found  to  produce  the  same  salutary  effects  in  Trini- 


TRINIDAD. 


91 


dad,  which  it  has  done  wherever  it  has  revolved  its 
portly  body. 

Labatur  in  omne  volubilis  aevum. 

It  must  accompany  every  step  in  the  process  of 
Emancipation. 

As  far  as  I  could  see  or  hear,  the  execution  of  the 
Orders  in  Council  had  created  no  permanent  dis¬ 
turbance,  and  the  planters  themselves  were  willing 
to  confess  that  a  great  deal  of  causeless  violence 
had  been  displayed  upon  the  occasion.  The  mar¬ 
ket  on  Sunday  morning  is  allowed  till  half-past  nine 
or  ten,  at  which  time  the  place  is  cleared.  This 
measure  at  first  excited  great  opposition,  but  it  is 
now  not  thought  of,  or  only  remembered  to  be  ap¬ 
plauded.  The  institution  of  Banks  for  Petty  Sav¬ 
ings  does  not  seem  to  be  a  wise  plan  of  going  to 
work  in  a  society  like  this  ;  the  object  should  rather 
be  to  induce  an  appetite  for  comforts  of  dress  and 
food  which  can  only  be  purchased  by  the  product  of 
some  labour.  I  would  rather  that  a  negro  spent  a 
dollar  in  buying  a  new  hat  than  that  he  should  lay 
it  up  in  the  bank.  With  the  new  hat  he  will  pur¬ 
chase  or  acquire  a  perception  of  and  craving  for 
new  comforts  and  new  conveniences ;  he  will  be^ 
more  and  more  loth  to  part  with  what  has  either 
gratified  his  vanity  or  contributed  to  his  ease,  and 
the  pain  of  losing  will  be  in  just  proportion  to  the 
pleasure  of  possessing  the  article.  When  this  pain 


92 


TRINIDAD. 


begins  to  be  felt  constantly,  the  great  difficulty  will 
be  surmounted;  a  stimulus  to  industry,  a  spur  to 
improvement  will  have  been  introduced  into  the 
mind,  and  from  that  time  forward  the  negro  may  be 
safely  left  to  the  impulsion  of  those  external  and  in¬ 
ternal  agents  which  are  commonly  found  to  be  ef¬ 
fectual  in  the  more  civilized  regions  of  the  globe. 
The  unequivocal  existence  of  this  stimulus  in 
steady  operation  seems  to  me  to  be  the  true  and  un¬ 
erring  sign  of  the  arrival  of  that  aera  when  eman¬ 
cipation  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  slave,  the  master 
and  the  community.  If,  before  this  point  be  at¬ 
tained,  complete  freedom  be  given  to  all  the  bond- 
men  in  the  British  colonies,  it  is  as  demonstrable 
morally  as  any  proposition  in  Euclid  is  mathemati¬ 
cally,  first  that  the  property  in  the  soil  must  change 
hands ;  secondly  that  the  commerce  of  the  islands 
must  languish  or  die  altogether;  and  thirdly  that 
the  progress  of  civilization  in  the  negros  themselves 
must  be  indefinitely  retarded,  and  the  quality  of 
their  future  condition  incalculably  debased. 

A  Bank  for  Savings  is  the  peculiar  product  of  an 
age  and  nation  of  high  refinement,  dense  population 
and  laborious  subsistence.  It  is  that  aid  which 
should  alone  be  given  to  the  industrious  poor.  It 
should  follow  at  some  distance  the  birth  and  active 
operation  of  those  physical  and  moral  agents  by 
which  man  is  impelled  onwards  in  the  road  of  ge¬ 
neral  improvement;  if  it  precedes,  it  may  prevent 


TRINIDAD. 


93 


their  existence  at  all,  or  at  best,  it  will  infallibly 
protract  the  period  of  their  birth.  Now  the  negros 
in  the  West  Indies  are  not  an  industrious  poor;  they 
are  indolent  by  nature,  as  their  brethren  in  Africa 
are  at  this  moment  in  whatever  part  of  that  conti¬ 
nent  they  may  have  been  examined,  and  this  natu¬ 
ral  indolence  is  justified  in  their  eyes  and  rendered 
inveterate  by  a  climate  and  a  soil  which  not  only 
indispose  to  labour,  but  almost  make  it  unnecessary. 
You  exhort  a  man  to  work,  to  till  the  fertile  ground 
and  to  aspire  after  the  possession  of  the  obvious  com¬ 
forts  of  opulence ;  he  answers  that  he  does  not  want 
them,  thanks  God  that  the  yams  and  plantains  will 
grow  abundantly  for  his  eating  ;  and  that  new  rum  is 
very  cheap  at  the  grog-shops  ;  any  thing  beyond  this 
cannot  be  worth  the  trouble  to  be  undergone  for  it. 
What  has  the  philanthropist  to  do  ?  Not  to  set  up 
a  bank  for  his  savings  certainly,  or  at  least  not  to 
rely  upon  it;  he  has  no  savings ;  he  may  indeed 
very  likely  plunder  his  master  or  his  neighbour,  and 
you  will  not  be  improving  him  by  giving  him  four 
per  cent,  upon  such  a  deposit.  Suppose  he  were 
to  accumulate  in  this  manner  a  sum  large  enough  to 
purchase  his  freedom,  which  some  have  done, 
have  ydu  really  benefited  that  man  ?  Not  in  the 
least.  All  that  you  have  done  is  this,  that  whereas 
the  slave  was  compelled  to  labour  and  was  thereby 
kept  within  certain  bounds  of  sobriety,  the  freed- 
man  becomes  the  first  week  a  vagabond,  the  second 
9* 


94 


TRINIDAD. 


a  robber,  and  the  third  a  grinder  of  corn  by  the 
sweat  of  his  legs  in  the  jail  of  Port  of  Spain. 

The  philanthropist  has  one  object  to  effect  and 
only  one ;  he  must  civilize  the  negros.  He  cannot 
do  this  by  force,  for  the  sources  of  barbarism  are  in 
the  mind,  and  the  mind  even  of  a  negro  is  intangible 
by  violence.  He  cannot  take  the  Castle  of  Indo¬ 
lence  by  storm,  for  it  will  vanish  before  his  face  to 
re-appear  behind  his  back.  He  must  make  his 
approaches  in  form  and  carry  a  charm  in  his  hand ; 
he  must  hold  steadily  before  him  the  mirror  shield 
of  knowledge  and  cause  the  brutified  captives  to  see 
themselves  therein.  He  cannot  disenchant  them, 
until  he  has  first  inspired  into  their  hearts  a  wish  to 
be  disenchanted,  and  they  shall  no  sooner  have 
formed  that  wish  than  the  spell  which  hath  bound 
them  shall  be  broken  for  ever. 

Although  the  bank  is  nearly  nugatory  at  present 
I  am  not  sorry  upon  consideration  that  it  exists. 
There  may  be  some  slaves  so  far  advanced  beyond 
their  fellows  as  to  become  legitimate  and  beneficial 
depositors,  and  as  freedom  may  be  purchased  in 
Trinidad,  it  may  in  such  cases  prove  a  valuable 
assistance  to  a  regular  and  voluntary  industry.  At 
all  events  the  institution  is  ready  to  act  whenever 
civilization  shall  render  it  advantageous. 

Many  of  the  other  orders  are  so  important  that 
they  cannot  be  discussed  in  a  line,  and  I  reserve? 
them  fox  a  future  opportunity. 


TRINIDAD. 


95 


On  Easter  Monday,  the  4th  of  April,  after  a  de¬ 
lightful  visit,  we  re-embarked  in  the  Eden  and  bade 
farewell  to  our  kind  and  hospitable  host  and  the 
many  friends  whom  we  had  found  in  Trinidad. 
“  Adios,  Adios !  Viva  usted  muchos  anos !” — and 
then  hoist  the  jib,  brace  up  the  main  and  fore 
yards;  and  haul  down  the  pendant. 


GRENADA. 


List  to  a  landsman,  ye  Captains,  and  let  nothing 
tempt  you  to  steer  outwards  through  the  Boca  de 
Huevos,  which  you  rejoice  to  call  the  Umbrella 
Passage.  It  had  like  to  have  been  the  shadow  of 
death  to  me.  The  cut  seems  short  and  easy,  the 
water  smooth,  you  have  a  fresh  breeze  on  the  quar¬ 
ter,  and  you  fancy  it  will  carry  the  ship  through. 
But  I  say  unto  you  again,  go  not  within  the  Boca  de 
Huevos,  for  you  will  have  no  better  luck  than 
Columbus  or  myself. 

We  got  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  line  of  the 
open  sea,  when  the  wind  died.  The  passage  is 
much  longer  than  it  appears  from  the  Gulf,  and 
very  high  precipices  on  either  side  will  cause  a  dead 
calm  at  thirty  points  of  the  compass.  As  the  wind 
fell  we  began  to  feel  and  to  see  the  fierce  current 
which  set  inwards,  like  a  river,  from  the  N.  W. 
It  came  in  diagonally,  and  the  ship  made  stern  way 
before  it  till  the  end  of  the  spanker  boom  was  within 
thirty  feet  of  the  rock.  There  we  lay  for  a  season 
in  dead  water  or  nearly  so,  the  sails  hung  motion¬ 
less,  every  boat  was  lowered,  and  the  men  pulled 


GRENADA. 


97 


for  their  lives  against  the  backward  impulse  of 
the  mighty  vessel.  We  then  cast  anchor  in  fifty 
fathoms.  After  ten  minutes  pause  a  propitious  flaw 
from  the  clefts  of  the  precipice  filled  the  top-gal¬ 
lants  and  royals,  the  cable  was  slipped,  the  ship 
made  a  little  head  way,  the  boats  aided  and  then 
cast  off,  and  at  length  we  got  again  into  the  middle 
of  the  stream.  We  left  the  best  bower  behind  us 
at  the  bottom,  and  were  not  sorry  to  take  our  posi¬ 
tion  once  more  within  the  Gulf.  The  rocks  are 
steep  as  a  wall,  and  entirely  bare  of  vegetation  for 
twenty  yards  above  the  level  of  the  water,  and  if 
the  wind  had  been  with  the  current,  we  must  have 
been  infallibly  wrecked. 

The  next  day  we  tried  our  luck  through  the  Boca 
de  Navios  or  Ship  Passage,  and  got  out  into  the 
sea,  but  before  we  were  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
the  outlet,  the  wind  fell  again  and  the  current  began 
to  drive  us  backwards  as  before.  We  therefore 
anchored  once  more  in  very  deep  water  and  did  not 
sail  till  the  evening,  when  a  light  breeze  off  shore 
carried  the  ship  fairly  away.  Early  the  next  day 
we  made  Grenada,  and  came  into  the  bay  by  twelve 
o’clock. 

If  Trinidad  is  sublime,  Grenada  is  lovely.  I  do 
not  know  why  it  should  have  put  me  in  mind  of 
Madeira,  but  it  did  so  continually.  The  harbour 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  hur¬ 
ricanes  have  not  ranged  so  far  to  the  south  yet. 


98 


GRENADA. 


The  town  covers  a  peninsula  which  projects  into 
the  bay  ;  Fort  George  stands  on  the  point,  the  spir¬ 
ed  church  on  the  isthmus ;  within  is  the  Carenage 
full  of  ships  and  the  wharfs  of  the  merchants  sur¬ 
rounding  it;  beyond  it  lie  three  or  four  beautiful 
creeks  indenting  the  cane  fields,  an  aqueduct  at 
which  the  boats  water,  the  mangroves  growing  out 
of  the  sea,  the  great  Lagoon,  and  Point  Salines 
shooting  out  a  long  and  broken  horn  to  the  south¬ 
west  Over  all,  and  commanding  every  thing  in 
the  vicinity,  tower  the  Richmond  Heights,  which 
are  crested  with  fortifications  of  prodigious  extent, 
from  which  the  Bocas  of  Trinidad  have  been  seen 
on  a  clear  afternoon.  The  rest  of  the  prospect  is 
delightful ;  in  every  direction  the  eye  wanders  over 
richly  cultivated  valleys  with  streams  of  water  run¬ 
ning  through  them,  orchards  of  shaddocks  and 
oranges,  houses  with  gardens,  negro  huts  embow¬ 
ered  in  plantain  leaves,  mountains  and  little  hills 
romantically  mixed  and  variegated  with  verdant 
coppices  of  shrubs  and  trees.  The  view  from 
Government  House,  which  is  situated  on  a  ridge  at 
the  end  of  Hospital  Hill,  is  the  Bay  of  Naples  on 
one  side,  and  a  poet’s  Arcadia  on  the  other.  The 
planters  seem  to  have  had  some  such  notion  them¬ 
selves,  though,  Heaven  knows,  being  chiefly  Scotch¬ 
men,  they  are  not  overburthened  with  Greek  ;  the 
vale  below  they  call  Tempe,  the  river,  I  suppose, 
Peneus,  and  a  cloven  eminence  near  to  it  Mount 


GRENADA. 


99 


Parnassus,  where  sugars  of  the  finest  quality  in  the 
colony  are  produced. 

My  stay  in  this  island  was  short,  but  I  was  much 
delighted  with  all  that  I  saw.  Grenada  is  perhaps 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  Antilles,  meaning  by  this 
that  her  features  are  soft  and  noble  without  being 
great  and  awful.  There  is  an  Italian  look  in  the 
country  which  is  very  distinct  from  the  usual  cha¬ 
racter  of  the  intertropical  regions,  and  is  peculiar 
to  this  colony.  I  rode  a  considerable  way  into  the 
interior,  and  found  every  part  green  and  broken 
and  romantic.  I  had  not  time  to  reach  the  Grand 
Etapg,  which,  I  am  told,  is  a  great  curiosity.  But 
after  all,  I  believe  nothing  in  the  island  surpasses 
the  prospect  from  Government  House  or  the  Rich¬ 
mond  Heights  ;  it  almost  deserves  that  Westall 
should  make  a  voyage  from  England  to  see  it  and 
paint  it. 

St.  George’s  is  a  large  town  and  picturesquely 
placed  on  a  peninsula  and  the  sides  of  a  hill,  but 
the  consequence  of  this  situation  is  that  the  streets 
are  all  so  steep  that  the  inhabitants  consider  it 
unsafe  to  use  any  sort  of  carriages  on  them. 
However  they  certainly  make  more  of  this  than 
is  necessary.  I  would  engage  to  drive  a  tandem 
with  perfect  security  from  the  landing  place  in  the 
Carenage  to  Government  House.  The  church  had 
no  roof  when  I  was  there,  but  the  plan  of  a  new 
building  was  already  prepared  which  was  to  retain 


100 


GRENADA. 


the  old  spire  and  its  present  excellent  situation. 
The  clock  here,  given  by  Governor  Matthews,  is 
much  celebrated.  There  are  two  other  churches 
in  the  island,  and  two,  or  at  least  one  more,  are  to 
be  built  as  soon  as  it  is  practicable.  Mr.  Macma- 
hon,  the  rector  of  St.  George’s,  is  a  good  and  inter¬ 
esting  old  man.  In  the  insurrection  of  1795  he 
with  many  others  was  placed  in  a  room  previously 
to  being  summoned  to  execution  by  the  slaves. 
He  saw  all  his  companions  taken  out  and  shot  one 
by  one,  but  having  had  the  luck  of  Ulysses  to  stand 
last,  he  determined  to  make  a  bold  push  for  his  life. 
Macmahon  is  a  tall  and  was  then  an  uncommonly 
strong  man,  and  the  moment  he  walked  out  he 
leaped  upon  the  slave  general  and  clung  round  his 
neck  so  tightly  that  they  could  not  force  him  away 
for  a  long  time.  The  struggle  produced  a  pause 
and  an  inquiry  who  he  was,  and  when  he  was 
known  to  be  the  parson  there  was  a  common  cry 
for  saving  his  life,  as  he  had  always  been  a  kind  and 
charitable  man  to  every  one  connected  with  his 
cure.  The  worthy  rector  tells  the  story  with  a 
deserved  satisfaction. 

Grenada  is  honourably  distinguished  amongst  the 
British  Antilles  for  its  internal  unanimity  and  its 
liberal  treatment  of  the  coloured  classes  of  the 
inhabitants.  In  this  last  point  the  planters  of  this 
island  go  beyond  all  their  brethren ;  the  free  co¬ 
loured  man  has  every  privilege  of  the  white* 


GRENADA* 


101 


although  there  never  has  been,  and  at  present  it  is 
not  to  be  wished  that  there  should  be,  an  instance 
of  any  of  that  rank  sitting  in  the  Assembly.  In 
the  actual  state  of  their  average  improvement  it  is 
quite  sufficient  that  they  are  esteemed  free  in  every 
sense  and  are  treated  with  justice  and  respect.  I 
cannot  speak  of  the  management  of  the  slaves 
from  any  very  accurate  examination,  but  they 
seemed  to  be  all  as  good  humoured,  vivacious  and 
impudent  as  the  rest  of  their  fellows  wherever  I 
have  seen  them,  and  I  am  acquainted  with  many 
anecdotes  which  would  lead  me  to  believe  that 
they  are  humanely  governed  and  comfortably  main¬ 
tained.  Indeed  the  prejudice  of  colour  is  fainter 
in  this  colony  than  in  almost  any  other,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  every  measure  of  regular  civilization 
of  the  negros  will  be  received  and  enforced  by  the 
legislature  with  the  utmost  cheerfulness.  The  act 
for  investing  the  bishop  with  episcopal  powers  was 
passed  by  acclamation ;  an  excellent  and  able  cler¬ 
gyman,  who  was  sent  by  the  bishop,  has  been 
kindly  received,  a  house  built  for  him,  and  a  church 
in  a  remote  part  of  the  island  put  into  proper  order 
for  divine  service.  I  know  enough  of  Mr.  Barker 
and  his  amiable  wife  to  feel  convinced  that  their 
residence  alone  will  be  a  general  benefit. 

There  are  still  a  few  French  proprietors  and  a 
Romish  priest  administers  to  them,  but  they  gra- 
10 


102 


GRENADA. 


dually  decrease  and  the  face  of  society  may  be  said 
to  be  English. 

I  like  the  Grenadans  much ;  they  have  a  picture 
of  an  island,  they  give  turtle,  porter  and  champagne 
in  abundance  and  perfection,  they  lend  horses,  and 
send  pines  and  pomegranates  on  board  your  ship, 
in  short  they  are  right  pleasant  Christians ; . . .  one 
thing  only  I  find  fault  with,  but  that  one  thing  is,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  a  mountain.  Gentlemen  of  Gre¬ 
nada  and  the  Grenadines  as  far  as  Cariacou,  where 
are  your  wives  ?  where  are  your  heirs  ?  you  will 
say  the  fashion  is  Persian  and  that  they  are  within 
the  veils ;  you  will  say  that  there  are  just  forty 
ladies  in  the  island !  it  may  be  so,  but  show  them, 
gentleman,  to  the  world  and  put  to  silence  the  mo¬ 
ralities  of  Englishmen  and  Barbadians.  Of  Gre¬ 
nada  alone  can  I  say  that  1  never  saw  a  single  lady 
all  the  while  I  was  in  it. 


ST.  VINCENT’S. 


We  left  Grenada  after  dinner  on  the  evening  of 
Friday  the  8th  of  April,  passed  at  some  distance  to 
leeward  of  the  long  line  of  islands  and  islets  called 
Grenadines,  which  are  equally  distributed  between 
the  two  governments  of  St.  Vincent’s  and  Grenada, 
and  after  beating  up  for  nearly  twenty-four  hours 
in  sight  of  land,  came  to  anchor  in  Kingstown  Bay 
at  five  in  the  morning  of  Sunday  the  10th. 

The  view  of  the  town  and  surrounding  country 
is  thought  by  many  to  be  the  most  beautiful  thing 
in  the  Antilles ;  it  is  indeed  a  delightful  prospect, 
but,  according  to  my  taste,  not  within  ken  of  the 
surpassing  loveliness  of  the  approach  to  Grenada. 
Trinidad  is  South  American,  but  St.  George’s,  the 
Lagoon,  and  Point  Salines  are  perfect  Italy.  Kings¬ 
town  lies  in  a  long  and  narrow  line  upon  the  edge 
of  the  water;  on  the  eastern  end  is  a  substantial 
and  somewhat  handsome  edifice  containing  two 
spacious  apartments,  wherein  the  council  and  As¬ 
sembly  debate  in  the  morning,  and  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  dance  in  the  evening;  towards  the 
western  extremity  is  also  a  substantial  and  ugly 


104 


st.  Vincent’s. 


building,  something  between  a  hospital  and  a  bar¬ 
rack,  which  has  the  honour  of  being  a  church  ; 
hard  by,  yet  opposite  to  it,  is  an  airy  and  comforta¬ 
ble  tabernacle  for  the  methodists,  and  between  both, 
but  rather  closer  to  the  latter,  stands  or  perhaps  lies 
the  humble  mansion  of  the  hero  of  Curazoa.  In 
the  back  ground  a  grand  amphitheatre  of  moun¬ 
tains  embraces  the  town,  and  there  was  a  verdancy 
and  freshness  in  the  general  aspect  of  the  country 
which  certainly  exceeded  any  thing  I  saw  in  the 
West  Indies. 

But  this  greenness  was  as  the  appearance  of  wa¬ 
ter  in  the  wilderness.  I  always  was,  it  is  true,  in  a 
thaw  within  the  Tropics,  being  naturally,  as  heaven 
made  me,  of  a  melting  mood  in  heart  and  body  ; 
but  in  St.  Vincent’s,  and  therein  more  especially  in 
the  aforesaid  substantial  and  ugly  church  in  St.  Vin¬ 
cent’s,  I  verily  streamed  from  my  hair,  eye-brows, 
nose,  lips  and  chin  continuously;  the  big  round 
drops  coursed  one  another  adown  my  innocent 
cheeks,  and  projected  themselves  upon  my  gloves 
or  trowsers  in  graceful,  I  had  almost  said  greaseful, 
precipitation.  The  compages  of  my  corporeal  sys¬ 
tem  seemed  about  to  dissolve.  Hamlet  would  not 
have  found  his  mass  too  solid  here.  Botanicus  ve- 
rus ,  says  Linnaeus,  desudabit  in  augendo  amabilem 
scientiam  ; . . .  Mercy  on  me !  it  might  be  a  criterion 
of  zeal  in  Sweden,  but  in  Kingstown  a  very  bad 
and  slothful  botanist  nearly  exsuded  his  life  in 
walking  half  way  to  the  Garden. 


st.  Vincent’s, 


105 


I  know  nothing  inter  minora  incommoda  vitae  so 
annoying  to  the  feelings  of  a  young  man  as  to  per¬ 
spire  invincibly  under  the  eyes  of  an  interesting 
girl.  In  the  same  pew  with  me  and  right  opposite 
was  seated  one  of  the  prettiest  girls  in  the  West 
Indies.  Though  a  creole,  Clarissa  had  as  dazzling 
a  carmine  on  her  cheeks  as  an  English  beauty  ;  her 
features,  though  perhaps  approaching  to  what  the 
F rench  call  minces ,  were  sharp  and  delicate ;  her 
forehead  rather  too  low,  and  her  chin  a  little  too 
pointed  ;  but  then  her  figure  was  rich  in  all  the  fas¬ 
cinations  of  tropical  girlishness.  As  to  the  story 
about  rouge,  I  do  not  believe  one  word  of  it.  No 
woman  would  venture  such  a  thing  in  a  crowded 
church  in  these  countries ;  the  best  China  leaf 
would  not  stand.  This  is  amply  proved  by  obser¬ 
vation  ;  for  with  the  exception  of  Clarissa  and  one 
or  two  more  in  Barbados,  (but  they  had  both  lived 
a  long  time  in  England,)  I  never  saw  a  lady’s  cheek 
which  had  one  jot  of  rose.  A  Briton  may  well 
say, 

La  sont  les  lis,  les  roses  sont  icL 
The  best  were  certainly  pure  lily ;  the  next  like 
thin  vellum  or  Bath  outsides;  the  worst  as  the 
parchment  of  a  deed  on  which  the  statute  of  limita¬ 
tions  may  have  run.  For  all  this,  I  like  the  creole 
ladies,  especially  the  dear  Barbadians ;  they  are  all 
so  kind  and  modest  and  unaffected;  though  few  of 
them  are  well-informed,  yet  they  are  simple-hearted 
10* 


106 


st*  vincent’s. 


and  docile,  and  a  sensible  man  might  make  any 
thing  of  them ;  they  are  eminently  domestic  and  af¬ 
fectionate.  But  for  the  Aurora  blush  upon  Euge¬ 
nia’s  cheek. ..indeed,  fair  Creoles,  you  have  no 
idea  of  it ! 

An  Englishman  must  visit  foreign  lands  before  he 
can  conceive  how  prodigal  nature  has  been  in 
showering  down  beauty  and  heavenliness  upon  his 
own  countrywomen.  There  are  so  many  cox¬ 
combs,  poets  and  others,  who  affect  to  talk  about 
the  cold  beauties  of  the  north,  and  of  course  the 
warm,  perhaps  the  hot,  beauties  of  the  south,  that 
many  foolish  people,  who  have  never  crossed  the 
Channel,  really  think  they  are  paying  a  high  com¬ 
pliment  when  they  say  that  such  an  one  is  quite 
French,  or  another  a  perfect  Italian.  As  if  a  name 
made  any  difference  in  the  thing!  We  all  remem¬ 
ber  that  great  Dutch  Circassian,  the  Persian’s  wo¬ 
man,  and 

Her  eyes’  blue  languish  and  her  golden  hair  \ 

Ah !  Master  Collins ! - 

People  do  cant  so  about  the  F rench.  La  belle 
Fran£aise  and  so  on.  Why,  is  there  no  shame  in 
man  ?  Let  the  whole  feminine  gender  of  Gaul  be 
divided  into  three  classes,  of  which  the  last  is  in¬ 
calculably  smaller  than  the  other  two.  The  first  is 
downright  ugly ;  creatures  of  this  class  are  more 
like  Macbeth’s  witches  than  women  of  other  coun¬ 
tries,  brown  as  walnuts  from  constant  and  unbon- 


st.  Vincent’s. 


107 


netted  exposure  to  the  sun,  rough-featured  and 
hoarse-voiced.  The  second  class  is  simply  plain  ; 
these  are  tanned  to  about  new  mahogany,  have  gross 
figures,  no  features,  and  a  want  of  remarkableness 
all  over  them ;  this  is  the  most  numerous  division, 
and  includes  the  bulk  of  the  sex.  The  third  sort 
are  certainly  pretty,  taking  that  word  in  its  most 
restricted  sense.  These  have  sparkling  black  or 
hazel  eyes,  olive  or  perhaps  five  per  cent,  of  fair 
faces,  neat  shapes,  inexpressive  feet  and  legs,  soft 
voices  and  agreeable  manners.  Of  course  there 
are  the  usual  exceptions,  therarae  nantes,  but  upon 
an  average  the  scale  of  beauty  in  France  does  not 
ascend  higher  than  this.* 

Now,  reader,  if  you  are  an  Englishman,  (for  I 
know  nothing  about  the  Scotch  and  Irish,)  think 
over  your  own  family,  your  sisters,  or  perhaps  you 

have  a  cousin  or  so, - .  I  love  a  cousin : 

she  is  such  an  exquisite  relation,  just  standing  be¬ 
tween  me  and  the  stranger  to  my  name,  drawing 
upon  so  many  sources  of  love  and  tieing  them  all 

up  with  every  cord  of  human  affection - almost 

my  sister  ere  my  wife ! 

And  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  St.  Vincent’s  ? 
Nothing,  absolutely  nothing;  but  surely  it  is  as 
well  as  a  modern  Thebaid  or  even  a  North  Georgia 
Gazette. 

*  I  do  not  include  the  Genevese  in  this  account. 
Some  of  them  are  beautiful  indeed. 


103 


st.  Vincent’s. 


One  thing  disgusted  me  much;  I  allude  to  the 
practice  of  working  runaway,  riotous  or  convict 
slaves  in  chains  in  the  public  street  of  Kingstown. 
1  do  not  mean  that  any  bodily  pain  was  occasioned 
by  the  fetters;  they  were  too  light  for  that;  but  I 
have  all  reason  to  condemn  a  custom  which  must 
wantonly  wound  the  feelings  of  every  Englishman  at 
least,  which  must  be  utterly  useless  to  the  public, 
and  unspeakably  injurious  to  the  moral  system  of  the 
wretched  individual.  What  hope  could  an  Apostle 
conceive  of  that  being,  who  has  laughed  in  an  open 
street  with  an  iron  bolt  upon  his  leg?  We  chain 
free-born  men  in  England,  but  we  put  them  first 
within  four  walls.  Once  in  the  time  of  Edward  VI. 
an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed  to  manacle  vaga¬ 
bonds  and  force  them  to  labour  on  the  roads,  but 
the  thing  would  not  do;  it  was  repealed  in  the 
course  of  two  years  afterwards.  Blackstone,  or 
some  lawyer,  has  a  good  remark  upon  it,  but  I  for¬ 
get  the  words.  The  legislature  of  St.  Vincent’s 
have  much  to  their  honour  built  an  excellent  jail ; 
— why,  instead  of  lavishing  £42,000  currency  upon 
the  very  dismallest  and  most  inconvenient  church 
in  Christendom,  did  they  not  deduct  £500  for  a 
tread-wheel !  The  chained  slave  does  not  perform 
one  hour’s  work  of  a  British  rustic  in  the  whole 
day ;  but  will  he,  nill  he,  he  would  effect  something 
more  on  the  steps  of  the  Brixton  stair-case.  It 
answers  well,  as  I  have  said  before,  in  Port  of 


st.  Vincent’s. 


109 


Spain ;  let  Mr.  Shepherd  mention  the  thing  in 
Kingstown,  he  is  a  man  of  sense  and  an  Etonian, 
and  will  agree  with  me  upon  the  subject. 

The  jail  here  is  a  very  creditable  building,  and 
indeed  this  and  the  one  in  Trinidad  are  the  only 
two  that  would  be  suffered  to  exist  through  a  quar¬ 
ter  sessions  in  England.  All  the  others  which  I 
saw  in  the  West  Indies  are  disgraceful  to  their 
respective  communities.  The  botanical  garden  is 
much  fallen  off  from  the  state  in  which  it  once  was, 
but  there  are  still  some  very  fine  specimens  of  the 
valuable  exotics  of  the  East,  such  as  nutmegs, 
cinnamon  and  cloves.  The  great  work  that  remains 
to  be  achieved  for  West  Indian  botany  is  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  the  true  oriental  mangosteen ;  to  which 
perhaps  I  should  add  a  wish  for  the  chirimoya  of 
Peru.  These  two  with  the  common  pines  might 
form  a  passable  dessert.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
remark  that  what  is  called  mangosteen  in  some  of 
the  Antilles,  is  merely  a  variety  of  the  mango.  It 
is  a  great  pity  that  any  establishment  of  this  sort 
should  be  allowed  to  decay ;  for  trees  and  fruits  and 
flowers  are  humanizing  things,  soothing  the  passions, 
calling  forth  only  the  peaceful  energies  of  the  intel¬ 
lect,  and  attaching  mankind  to  the  soil  on  which 
they  have  both  grown  together:  a  virtue  much 
wanted  in  the  colonies  of  America. 

The  church  establishment  is  very  defective., 
there  being,  I  believe,  only  two  churches  in  St. 


108 


ST.  VINCENT’S. 


One  thing  disgusted  me  much;  I  allude  to  the 
practice  of  working  runaway,  riotous  or  convict 
slaves  in  chains  in  the  public  street  of  Kingstown. 
I  do  not  mean  that  any  bodily  pain  was  occasioned 
by  the  fetters  ;  they  were  too  light  for  that ;  but  I 
have  all  reason  to  condemn  a  custom  which  must 
wantonly  wound  the  feelings  of  every  Englishman  at 
least,  which  must  be  utterly  useless  to  the  public, 
and  unspeakably  injurious  to  the  moral  system  of  the 
wretched  individual.  What  hope  could  an  Apostle 
conceive  of  that  being,  who  has  laughed  in  an  open 
street  with  an  iron  bolt  upon  his  leg?  We  chain 
free-born  men  in  England,  but  we  put  them  first 
within  four  walls.  Once  in  the  time  of  Edward  VI. 
an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed  to  manacle  vaga¬ 
bonds  and  force  them  to  labour  on  the  roads,  but 
the  thing  would  not  do;  it  was  repealed  in  the 
course  of  two  years  afterwards.  Blackstone,  or 
some  lawyer,  has  a  good  remark  upon  it,  but  I  for¬ 
get  the  words.  The  legislature  of  St.  Vincent’s 
have  much  to  their  honour  built  an  excellent  jail ; 
— why,  instead  of  lavishing  £42,000  currency  upon 
the  very  dismallest  and  most  inconvenient  church 
in  Christendom,  did  they  not  deduct  £500  for  a 
tread-wheel !  The  chained  slave  does  not  perform 
one  hour’s  work  of  a  British  rustic  in  the  whole 
day ;  but  will  he,  nill  he,  he  would  effect  something 
more  on  the  steps  of  the  Brixton  stair-case.  It 
answers  well,  as  I  have  said  before,  in  Port  of 


st.  Vincent’s. 


109 


Spain ;  let  Mr.  Shepherd  mention  the  thing  in 
Kingstown,  he  is  a  man  of  sense  and  an  Etonian, 
and  will  agree  with  me  upon  the  subject. 

The  jail  here  is  a  very  creditable  building,  and 
indeed  this  and  the  one  in  Trinidad  are  the  only 
two  that  would  be  suffered  to  exist  through  a  quar¬ 
ter  sessions  in  England.  All  the  others  which  I 
saw  in  the  West  Indies  are  disgraceful  to  their 
respective  communities.  The  botanical  garden  is 
much  fallen  off  from  the  state  in  which  it  once  was, 
but  there  are  still  some  very  fine  specimens  of  the 
valuable  exotics  of  the  East,  such  as  nutmegs, 
cinnamon  and  cloves.  The  great  work  that  remains 
to  be  achieved  for  West  Indian  botany  is  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  the  true  oriental  mangosteen  ;  to  which 
perhaps  I  should  add  a  wish  for  the  chirimoya  of 
Peru.  These  two  with  the  common  pines  might 
form  a  passable  dessert.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
remark  that  what  is  called  mangosteen  in  some  of 
the  Antilles,  is  merely  a  variety  of  the  mango.  It 
is  a  great  pity  that  any  establishment  of  this  sort 
should  be  allowed  to  decay ;  for  trees  and  fruits  and 
flowers  are  humanizing  things,  soothing  the  passions, 
calling  forth  only  the  peaceful  energies  of  the  intel¬ 
lect,  and  attaching  mankind  to  the  soil  on  which 
they  have  both  grown  together:  a  virtue  much 
wanted  in  the  colonies  of  America. 

The  church  establishment  is  very  defective, 
there  being,  I  believe,  only  two  churches  in  St. 


110 


st.  Vincent’s. 


Vincent’s,  and  one  built  by  a  meritorious  individual 
of  the  name  of  Nash  in  Cariacou.*  There  are 
some  Papists  also,  with  a  South  American  Priest  of 
no  very  good  character  to  wait  upon  them.  Hence 
the  Methodists  flourish  like  a  palm  branch,  and  live 
and  sing  away  in  complete  clover.  Here  ;it  was 
that  Moses  Rayner  dwelt ;  from  this  place  it  was 
that  he  sailed  in  the  schooner  to  strike  terror  and 
dismay  into  the  stoutest  heart  in  Barbados.  The 
legislature  was  convoked  by  an  extraordinary  sum¬ 
mons  ;  the  Attorney  General’s  opinion  taken ;  the 
magistrates  interrogated;  the  King’s  house  garri¬ 
soned;  Sir  Henry  Warde’s  dinner  almost  spoiled. 
Meantime  Moses  sits  very  quietly  in  his  tight  little 
schooner, 

et  fruitur  Diis 

Iratis  ; 

he  writes  and  receives  despatches  with  the  air  of  an 
ambassador ;  takes  time  to  consider  like  a  Chancel¬ 
lor  ;  deliberates  with  his  friends,  and  walks  the 
deck  like  Hamlet ; — 

To  land,  or  not  to  land,  that  is  the  question. 

Whether  ’tis  Methodisticallest  to  suffer 

The  groans  and  cane-tops  of  Barbadian  blackguards  ; 

Or  to  weigh  anchor  and  set  sail  to  leeward, 

And,  by  absconding,  end  them  ? — 

Moses  a  meek  man,  though  a  methodist,  know- 
*  Cariacou  however  is  in  the  government  of  Grenada. 


st.  Vincent’s. 


Ill 


ing  that  discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valour,  and 
tender  of  the  peace  of  the  ancient  and  loyal  colony, 
at  length  paid  for  his  passage  down  as  he  had  paid 
for  his  passage  up,  ordered  the  captain  to  put  the 
schooner  before  the  wind  and  bade  adieu  to  the 
unkindly  shores  of  Carlisle  Bay. 

The  legislature  have  passed  an  act  for  building 
a  church  in  Becquia  and  two  more  in  St.  Vincent’s, 
and  I  trust  that  this  act  will  not  be  allowed  to  fall 
asleep  as  some  others  of  the  sort  have  done.  Some 
reformations  of  importance  are  wanted  in  this  isl¬ 
and,  and  those  planters,  who  are  wise  to  their  own 
interests,  will  see  that  they  are  executed.  They 
must  not  legislate  any  more  for  England  ;  for  Eng¬ 
land  has  a  long  glass  now  and  can  make  out  objects 
by  night  or  by  day.  By  themselves  will  they  and 
all  the  planters  stand,  and  by  themselves  will  they 
fall,  if  to  fall  be  their  lot. 


ST.  LUCIA, 


All  Monday  night  and  Tuesday  morning  of  the 
1 2th  of  April,  we  were  becalmed  under  the  mighty 
shadow  of  the  Soufriere,  which  is  the  north-western 
extremity  of  St.  Vincent’s.  It  is  a  magnificent 
mountain  with  deep  clefts  and  gullies  in  its  sides, 
and  the  summit  is  only  seen  at  intervals,  between 
the  rolling  clouds.  How  still  and  motionless  it 
seemed,  and  what  a  contrast  it  presented  to  itself 
on  the  awful  night  of  the  first  of  May  1812,  a  night 
much  to  be  remembered  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
the  tale  whereof  will  remain  as  a  nursery  treasure 
to  generations  that  are  to  be  born  hereafter  ! 

The  wind  freshened  as  soon  as  we  had  slowly 
escaped  the  lee  of  the  land,  and  carried  us  gaily 
along  till  we  made  the  mountains  of  St.  Lucia. 
The  first  approach  to  this  island  from  the  south 
offers  the  most  striking  combination  of  various 
kinds  of  scenery  that  I  have  ever  seen.  Two 
rocks,  which  the  Gods  call  Pitons  and  men  Sugar- 
loaves,  rise  perpendicularly  out  of  the  sea  and 
shoot  to  a  great  height  in  parallel  cones,  which 
taper  away  towards  the  summit  like  the  famous 


ST.  LUCIA. 


113 


spires  of  Coventry.  These  rocks,  which  are  fea¬ 
thered  from  the  clouds  to  the  waves  with  evergreen 
foliage,  stand  like  pillars  of  Hercules  on  either 
side  of  the  entrance  into  a  small  but  deep  and 
beautiful  bay.  A  pretty  little  village  or  planta¬ 
tion  appears  at  the  bottom  of  the  cove  ;  the  sandy 
beach  stretches  like  a  line  of  silver  round  the  blue 
water,  and  the  cane  fields  form  a  broad  belt  of 
vivid  green  in  the  back  ground.  Behind  this  the 
mountains,  which  run  north  and  south  throughout 
the  island,  rise  in  the  most  fantastic  shapes,  here 
cloven  into  steep-down  chasms,  there  darting  into 
arrowy  points,  and  every  where  shrouded  or 
swathed,  as  it  were,  in  wood,  which  the  hand  of 
man  will  probably  never  lay  low.  The  clouds, 
w'hich  within  the  tropics  are  infallibly  attracted  by 
any  woody  eminences,  contribute  greatly  to  the 
wildness  of  the  scene ;  sometimes  they  are  so 
dense  as  to  bury  the  mountains  in  darkness ;  at 
other  times  they  float  transparently  like  a  silken 
veil ;  frequently  the  flaws  from  the  gulleys  perfo¬ 
rate  the  vapours  and  make  windows  in  the  smoky 
mass,  and  then  again  the  wind  and  the  sun  will 
cause  the  whole  to  be  drawn  upwards  majestically 
like  the  curtain  of  a  gorgeous  theatre. 

But  beautiful  as  these  sierras  look,  it  is  woe  to 
the  man  who  ventures  on  foot  to  penetrate  their 
recesses.  Even  on  horseback  it  is  sometimes  peri¬ 
lous  to  traverse  the  forest  by  the  alleys  that  have 
11 


116 


ST.  LUCIA. 


tremendous,  and  his  jaw  must  have  been  tougher 
than  leather  not  to  have  given  way  before  the  furi¬ 
ous  jerks  and  flings  which  he  made  to  free  himself. 
Two  sucking  fishes,  which  were  clinging  to  his  side, 
never  loosed  their  hold  during  the  tempest  which 
the  dying  agonies  of  their  master  created.  At 
length  a  strong  running  knot  was  tightened  round 
his  body,  and  he  was  drawn  up  to  the  mizen  chains. 
Even  here  the  hampered  animal  was  terrible,  and 
it  was  not  without  slow  and  watchful  caution  that 
a  sailor  came  within  reach  of  it,  and  with  a  long 
and  sharp  knife  stabbed  it  in  the  neck.  He  then 
cut  off  the  head  and  one  of  the  fore-fins,  and,  slip¬ 
ping  the  knot,  dropped  the  bloody  and  yet  writhing 
mass  to  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic.  The  men  now 
looked  out  for  some  good  luck,  and  lo !  the  wind 
which  had  been  light  and  baffling  because  three 
clergymen,  or  reckoning  a  bishop  at  two,  four  cler¬ 
gymen  were  on  board,  came  round  steady  and  fresh 
on  the  starboard  quarter  because  they  had  killed 
a  shark. 

We  landed  at  the  wharf  at  the  bottom  of  the  Ca- 
renage,  and,  mounting  as  many  of  Major  Shaw’s 
horses  as  we  wanted,  set  off  upon  our  journey  to 
Government  House.  He  who  has  ridden  to  and 
from  the  Corral  ought  not  to  fear  riding  any  where 
or  in  any  manner,  yet  1  own  that  I  expected  to 
break  my  bones  that  evening  in  ascending  or  de¬ 
scending  the  awsome  causeway  which  leads  from 
the  town  up  to  the  mountain  station  of  Colone 


ST.  LUCIA. 


117 


Blakewell’s  residence.  This  perilous  road  lies  in 
a  zigzag  of  acute  angles,  comrae  5a — 

Zenith. 

Government  House. 


Castries. 

Nadir. 


and,  as  it  rains  nine  months  out  of  the  twelve  in  St. 
Lucia,  there  are  deep  bricked  trenches  or  channels 
traversing  the  path  at  each  turn  for  the  double  pur¬ 
pose  of  carrying  off  the  water  and  of  checking  a  re¬ 
dundant  population.  But  when  I  got  to  the  top — 
oh  never  will  that  moment  be  forgotten  by  me !  I 
remember  staring  without  breath  or  motion  as  if  I 
had  been  really  enchanted.  I  never  saw  heaven  so 
close  before.  The  sky  did  not  seem  that  solid 
cieling  with  gold  nails  stuck  in  it  which  it  does  in 
England,  but  a  soft  transparency  of  showery  azure, 
far  within  which,  but  unobscured  by  its  intervention, 
the  great  Stars  were  swimming  and  breathing  and 
looking  down  like  gods  of  Assyria.  Not  only  Ve¬ 
nus  and  Sirius  and  the  glorious  Cross  of  our  Faith 
in  the  south,  and 

Charlemaine  amongst  the  starris  seaven 
low  in  the  north,  shone  like  segments  of  the  Moon  ; 
but  hosts  of  other  luminaries  of  lesser  magnitude 
flung  each  its  particular  shaft  of  splendour  on  the 
11* 


118 


ST.  LUCIA. 


tranquil  and  shadowy  sea.  As  I  gazed,  the  air  burst 
into  atoms  of  green  fire  before  my  face,  and  in  an 
instant  they  were  gone  ;  1  turned  round,  and  saw  all 
the  woods  upon  the  mountains  illuminated  with  ten 
thousands  of  flaming  torches  moving  in  every  di¬ 
rection,  now  rising,  now  falling,  vanishing  here,  re¬ 
appearing  there,  converging  to  a  globe,  and  disper¬ 
sing  in  spangles.  No  man  can  conceive  from  dry 
description  alone  the  magical  beauty  of  these  glo¬ 
rious  creatures  ;  so  far  from  their  effects  having  been 
exaggerated  by  travellers,  I  can  say  that  I  never 
read  an  account  in  prose  or  verse  which  in  the  least 
prepared  me  for  the  reality. 

There  are  two  sorts,  the  small  fly  which  flits  in 
and  out  in  the  air,  the  body  of  which  I  have  never 
examined;  and  a  kind  of  beetle,  which  keeps  more 
to  the  woods,  and  is  somewhat  more  stationary, 
like  our  glow-worm.  This  last  has  two  broad  eyes 
on  the  back  of  its  head  which,  when  the  phosphores*- 
cent  energy  is  not  exerted,  are  of  a  dull  parchment 
hue,  but,  upon  the  animal’s  being  touched,  shoot 
forth  two  streams  of  green  light  as  intense  as  the 
purest  gas.  But  the  chief  source  of  splendour  is  a 
cleft  in  the  belly,  through  which  the  whole  interior 
of  the  beetle  appears  like  a  red  hot  furnace.  I  put 
one  of  these  natural  lamps  under  a  wine  glass  in  my 
bed-room  in  Trinidad,  and,  in  order  to  verify  some 
accounts,  which  I  have  heard  doubted,  I  ascertained 


ST.  LUCIA. 


119 


the  hour  on  my  watch  by  its  light  alone  with  the 
utmost  facility.* 

We  drank  tea  at  the  Pavilion,  one  of  the  best 
houses  in  the  West  Indies.  It  is  situated  on  a  ter¬ 
race  almost  at  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and  the  prospect 
from  it  by  the  light  of  an  interlunar  sky  was  most 
beautiful ;  the  long  and  deep  bay,  the  broken 
peninsula  of  the  Vigie,  the  sea  beyond  with  the 
Pigeon  Rock,  the  town  glimmering  with  lights,  and 
the  dark  woods  and  mountains  behind. 

If  the  blood  of  those  thrice  gallant  men  which 
has  been  shed  like  water  on  the  Vigie  and  Morne 
Fortune  was  not  to  be  shed  in  vain,  much  must  be 
done  to  render  St.  Lucia  a  valuable  acquisition  to 
England.  At  present  it  is  a  British  colony  in  little 
more  than  the  name.  The  religion  is  Romish,  and 
the  spirit  of  its  ministers  bigotted  and  intractable. 
The  people  are  French  in  language,  manners  and 
feelings.  No  progress  has  been  made  in  amalgama¬ 
ting  the  two  nations  ;  nay,  every  attempt  at  it  has 
been  openly  thwarted  by  the  Romish  clergy. 
They  have  no  schools  themselves,  and  they  forbid 
any  of  their  flocks  to  attend  one  in  company  with 

*  In  Port  of  Spain  they  tell  a  story  of  a  lady  appear¬ 
ing  at  a  ball  in  a  black  silk  gown  with  a  splendid  trim¬ 
ming  of  fireflies.  I  forgot  whether  the  poor  things 
were  strung  through,  like  cockchafers,  to  keep  them  in 
spirits. 


120 


ST.  LUCIA. 


Protestants.  Those  who  can  afford  it  send  their 
children  to  Martinique,  the  United  States,  or 
France;  these  return  with  French  politics  and 
French  predilections;  they  submit  sullenly  to  the 
English  dominion,  and  look  forward  to  a  change. 

It  is  painful,  yet  it  may  be  profitable,  to  contem¬ 
plate  the  different  conditions  of  Trinidad  and  St. 
Lucia.  We  have  conquered  both  from  nations  of 
another  language  and  of  another  faith.  No  local 
legislatures  stand  in  the  way  of  improvement ;  each 
colony  may  be  governed  equally  at  our  discretion. 
In  Trinidad  there  is  no  religious  animosity  of  any 
kind  whatever;  the  Romish  clergy  are  enlightened 
and  liberal ;  the  same  school  contains  English, 
Spaniards,  and  French,  those  who  believe  in  and 
those  who  laugh  at  Transubstantiation.  The  three 
languages  are  spoken  almost  interchangeably,  al¬ 
though,  as  is  most  proper  and  necessary,  the  Eng¬ 
lish  is  predominant  and  advancing.  In  Trinidad  a 
spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  British  crown  has  commenced 
and  will  increase  ;  a  permanency  has  been  impressed 
on  the  society,  and  the  aspect  of  the  colony,  if  I 
may  so  express  myself,  is  towards  England.  The 
reverse  of  all  this  is  the  case  at  St.  Lucia.  The 
difference  is  not  entirely  owing  to  the  Governors. 
It  is  true  that  Sir  Ralph  Woodford  is  a  man  of  great 
abilities,  and  has  displayed  for  many  years,  in  a  cri¬ 
tical  situation,  a  largeness  of  conception,  and  a 


ST.  LUCIA. 


124 


practical  vigour  of  execution,  which  ought  to  insure 
for  him  the  favour  of  the  crown,  as  it  certainly  will 
procure  for  him  the  respect  of  his  observant  coun¬ 
trymen.  Colonel  Blakewell  is  also  an  excellent 
man,  serious,  firm  and  conciliating,  and  if  good  can 
be  done  in  St.  Lucia,  it  will  be  done  under  his  ad¬ 
ministration  of  the  government.  Much  is  in  agita¬ 
tion  ;  a  church  is  already  commenced  in  Castries 
and  a  school  opened.  The  Bishop  has  sent  a 
clergyman  to  reside  there,  and  I  have  no  doubt, 
when  these  two  fountains  of  effectual  reformation 
come  into  regular  action,  that  both  the  religion  and 
the  language  of  Englishmen  will  advance  towards 
an  ascendancy  as  they  are  actually  doing  in  Trini¬ 
dad.  The  chief  thing  that  I  would  aim  at,  if  I  were 
governor,  would  be  the  encouragement  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  English  tongue ;  for  no  society 
will  ever  be  one  and  entire  in  its  affections  so  long 
as  nine  tenths  of  the  population  speak  a  different 
language  from  the  remaining  handful  of  their  mas¬ 
ters.  The  changes  either  in  religion  or  language 
that  may  be  wrought  in  adults  are  trifling  and 
imperceptible  ;  the  only  effectual  mode  of  operating 
on  the  mass  of  a  society  is  by  teaching  the  children. 
In  the  school  in  Port  of  Spain  boys  of  various  na¬ 
tions  read  the  authorized  version  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  and  repeat  the  catechism  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  none  but  a  practised  ear  could  have 


122 


ST.  LUCIA. 


detected  the  vernacular  tongue  of  the  speaker. 
Let  there  be  an  adequate  school  in  Castries,  with  a 
zealous  and  able  master,  and  I  am  much  mistaken 
if  the  French  will  not  by  degrees,  even  in  spite  of 
their  priests,  place  their  children  in  it  rather  than 
leave  them  uneducated,  or  be  at  the  expense  of 
sending  them  for  instruction  to  any  foreign  country. 


BARBADOS. 


A  gallant  breeze  at  S.  E.  carried  us  through  the 
Martinique  channel  with  unusual  facility,  for  it  is 
commonly  a  dead  beat  to  windward.  We  passed 
at  some  five  miles  from  the  Diamond  Rock,  and  had 
a  full  view  of  the  southern  shores  of  this  beautiful 
colony  of  the  French.  After  making  a  long  stretch 
to  the  E.  N.  E.,  we  put  about  for  Barbados,  and 
had  to  contend  the  whole  way  with  baffling  winds 
from  the  S.  We  returned  by  the  leeward  side  of 
the  island  into  Carlisle  Bay  on  Friday,  the  15th  of 
April. 

The  characteristic  beauty  of  Barbados  is  its 
finished  cultivation  and  the  air  of  life  and  domestic 
comfort  which  the  entire  face  of  the  country  pre¬ 
sents.  For  this  particular  it  is,  without  competi¬ 
tion,  the  most  delightful  island  of  the  Antilles  ;  and 
though  we  had  all  been  deeply  impressed  with  the 
magnificence  of  natural  scenery  so  conspicuous  in 
Trinidad,  Grenada,  St.  Vincent’s  and  St.  Lucia, 
yet  there  was  no  one  on  board  who  did  not  confess 
a  secret  satisfaction  at  getting  back  once  more  to 
the  palms  and  the  white  houses  of  the  ancient 


124 


BARBADOS. 


colony.  The  old  motto  of  neither  Carib  nor  Cre¬ 
ole,  is  not  true,  for  a  Barbadian  is  probably  the 
most  genuine  Creole  of  the  West  Indies  ;  yet  in 
spite  of  that,  there  are  many  peculiarities  in  this 
island  which  go  a  great  way  in  justifying  the  appel¬ 
lation  of  Little  England. 

People  will  differ  in  their  estimates  of  the  degree 
of  comfort  enjoyed  by  the  adult  slaves,  but  Mr. 
Buxton  himself  could  not  doubt  the  happiness  of 
the  children.  In  the  changeable  climate  of  Bri¬ 
tain,  where  infants  must  be  wrapped  up  in  frocks 
and  mantles  and  caps  and  shoes,  we  have  no  notion 
of  the  vigorous  precocity  of  life  which  is  so  com¬ 
mon  in  the  West  Indies ;  there  the  punchy  little 
Indian  Bacchus  stands  up  like  a  man  in  twelve- 
months,  and,  instead  of  the  unmindful  vacancy  of 
our  babies,  stares  at  you  with  the  good  impudent 
assurance  which  Raffael  puts  into  the  eyes  of  his 
Child.  They  dance  together  in  rings  amidst  their 
fathers  and  mothers  who  may  be  working  in  the 
farm  court,  and  throw  trash  at  each  other,  as  Eton 
boys  do  chestnuts  or  snow-balls.  One  naked 
urchin  ran  full  butt  behind  me,  thrust  his  curly 
pate  through  my  legs,  and  looked  up  in  my  face 
with  irresistible  impertinence.  I  believe  I  should 
have  licked  the  scoundrel  if  he  had  pushed  me  into 
the  pond,  which  he  was  near  doing.  Jerryjorimbo, 
a  particular  ally  of  mine,  must  needs  climb  up  my 
back  in  order  to  pat  my  cheeks,  and  as  to  not 


BARBADOS 


125 


shaking  hands  with  every  soul  of  them  all,  it  would 
have  been  such  a  piece  of  tyranny  as  would  have 
destroyed  my  sleep.  Accordingly  there  was  a 
satisfactory  communication  of  sweat  between  me 
and  some  dozens  of  His  Majesty’s  subjects  and  Mr. 
Jordan’s  slaves.  The  nursery  is  a  capital  sight. 
It  is  a  large  open  room  with  the  floor  covered  with 
wooden  trays,  and  in  each  tray  a  naked  niggerling. 
There  they  are,  from  the  atom  born  to-day,  up  to 
eight  or  nine  months  of  age,  from  the  small  black 
pudding  up  to  a  respectable  sucking  pig.  Such 
screaming,  mewling,  and  grinning  !  The  venerable 
nurse  sits  placidly  in  the  middle,  and  administers 
pap  to  the  young  gentlemen  when  they  seem  to 
squall  from  hunger.  They  stuff  children  and  tur- 
kies  in  the  same  way  by  placing  the  victim  on  its 
back  in  their  lap,  inserting  a  lump  of  the  food  in 
the  mouth,  and  then  seeing  it  well  down  with  the 
thumb  and  fore  finger.  The  negro  women  will 
do  this  to  excess,  and  there  is  no  convincing  them 
of  the  evil  consequences,  though,  it  is  notorious, 
that  this  inordinate  repletion  is  a  common  cause 
of  death  amongst  the  young  in  the  colonies. 

In  Barbados  the  slaves  have  no  provision  grounds 
properly  so  called ;  these  form  a  part  of  the  estate, 
and  they  labour  upon  them  as  on  the  rest  of  the 
plantation.  But  they  have  all  gardens  of  their  own 
which  they  may  cultivate  as  they  please,  and  a 
dressed  meal  is  always  provided  for  them  in  the 
12 


126 


BARBADOS. 


middle  of  the  day,  which  is  exclusive  of  their  daily 
allowance  from  the  store  of  the  master.  That  they 
have  time  to  cultivate  their  patches  of  land  is  clear 
from  the  fact  that  they  always  are  cultivated  ;  either 
yams,  Indian  corn,  plantains,  or  even  canes,  are  to 
be  seen  growing  round  every  hut.  The  hut  is  a 
cottage  thatched  with  palm-branches  and  divided 
into  two  rooms ;  orie  is  the  chamber  of  the  parents, 
the  other  the  common  hall,  with  a  table,  chairs,  and 
a  broad  bench  with  back  to  it  for  the  children  to 
sleep  on  at  night.  Some  huts  are  larger  and  smart¬ 
er  than  this.  Jack  something  or  other,  the  driver 
on  the  Society’s  estate,  has  two  large  four  post  beds, 
looking  glasses  and  framed  pictures.  Jack  is  a 
good-natured  fellow,  offered  me  some  wine,  and 
hath  begotten  twelve  children  or  more. 

I  resided  a  month  or  five  weeks  in  Barbados  in 
great  comfort,  except  that  I  caught  a  fever,  and  was 
laid  up  in  ordinary  for  a  fortnight  thereupon,  but 
bleeding,  castor  oil  and  spunging,  put  off  the  evil 
day,  and  I  was  well  enough  to  go  to  Lady  Warde’s 
last  ball ;  an  instance  of  prudence  which  I  do  not 
recommend  for  general  imitation.  The  Bishop 
was  kind  enough  to  take  me  with  him  on  his  visita¬ 
tion  of  the  northern  part  of  his  diocese,  and  we  set 
sail  in  the  Eden  again  on  Tuesday  evening  the  1 7th 
of  May. 


MARTINIQUE. 


At  noon  of  the  19th  we  made  the  Diamond  Rock 
again,  and  sailed  close  under  it  about  four  in  the 
afternoon  as  we  were  drinking  our  wine  and  eating 
pineapples.  This  memorable  crag  is  shaped  like 
a  ninepin  with  the  point  a  little  broken  at  the  sum¬ 
mit.  There  is  a  good  passage  of  a  furlong  in  length 
between  it  and  the  shore,  and  anchorage  within  five 
yards  of  its  sides.  All  the  world  knows,  or  ought 
to  know,  that  surprising  feat  of  hoisting  up  a  thirty- 
two  pounder  from  the  top-sail  yard-arm  of  a  man  of 
war  in  the  last  war,  and  of  mounting  it  on  this  peri¬ 
lous  fortress ;  and  how  Captain  Morris  drove  the 
French  mad  by  his  indefatigable  attentions  to  their 
trading  craft.  They  swore  by  the  gods  of  Marti¬ 
nique  to  carbonado  the  sacre  Anglais  with  his  pop¬ 
gun,  but  the  bete  held  his  own  like  a  good  fellow 
and  true  as  he  was,  and  the  whole  fleet  fired  at  him 
as  they  might  have  done  at  the  mound  at  Woolwich. 
In  fact  it  was  impossible  to  storm  the  apex  of  a  fir¬ 
cone  with  twenty  bold  men  upon  it,  and  so  they 
turned  the  seige  into  a  blockade,  and  proceeded  to 
starve  the  sacre  Anglais.  Now  the  Captain,  like 


128 


MARTINIQUE. 


the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  could  bear  any  thing 
better  than  short  commons ;  indeed,  with  corn  beef 
and  a  glass  of  grog,  I  should  like  to  know  what  he 
would  not  bear?  He  held  out  as  long  as  the  beef 
and  the  rum  lived,  no  relief  appeared,  a  man  must 
eat,  and  certainly  one  gallant  English  sailor,  not  to 
say  a  dozen  of  them,  is  worth  all  the  fortresses  and 
rocks  and  diamonds  in  the  world.  So  Captain 
Morris  surrendered  His  Majesty’s  thirty-two  poun¬ 
der  to  a  fifty  gun  frigate,  and  lived  to  drive  the 
Danes  more  mad  from  Anholt  than  he  had  done  the 
French  from  the  Diamond.  A  hole  is  still  visible 
where  they  used  to  sleep,  and  a  stump  of  the  flag¬ 
staff'  still  stands  to  remind  an  Englishman  of  his 
duty,  and  the  Gaul  of  his  confusion. 

We  passed  slowly  by  the  mouth  of  Fort  Royal 
Harbour,  as  the  sun  was  setting  in  gold  and  lilac, 
and  the  creeping  wind  just  swelled  the  sky-sails  and 
royals  into  a  graceful  curve.  This  seemed,  and  I 
believe  is,  one  of  the  safest  and  most  spacious  har¬ 
bours  in  the  West  Indies  or  the  world.  I  saw  the 
famous  Pigeon  Rock,  La  Ramire,  which  cannot  be 
taken,  except  by  Britons,  and  even  John  will  have 
to  sweat  for  it,  I  apprehend,  in  the  next  war. 
There  was  lying  at  anchor  a  line  of  battle  ship  car¬ 
rying  the  admiral’s  flag,  two  frigates,  and  five  other 
smaller  men  of  war,  which  with  the  Venus,  a  very 
fine  fifty  gun  frigate,  and  a  brig  in  the  Bay  of  St. 
Pierre,  constitute  a  force  that  would  give  the  French 


MARTINIQUE. 


129 


fora  time  the  undoubted  mastery  of  the  Windward 
Sea,  however  inferior  they  might  be  after  a  month’s 
notice  at  Jamaica. 

We  stole  along  the  coast  quietly  during  the  night 
and  anchored  before  St.  Pierre  at  six  in  the  morn¬ 
ing.  The  face  of  the  country  round  the  town  is 
beautiful,  smoothly  rising  in  a  green  upland  of  canes, 
intersected  with  winding  roads  and  dotted  with 
white  houses,  whilst  a  deep  ravine  on  one  side,  and 
precipitous  mountains  on  the  other,  inclose  the  pic¬ 
ture  as  in  a  frame.  We  landed  after  breakfast  and 
went  to  Betsy  Parker’s,  one  of  that  numerous  tribe 
of  good-natured,  laughing,  peculiar  hostesses,  whom 
West  Indians  rejoice  in;  women  who  are  as  cun¬ 
ning  and  as  obsequious  to  whites  as  if  they  were 
negros,  and  as  proud  and  despotic  to  negros  as  if 
they  were  whites.  Not  that  I  mean  to  abuse  their 
mulatto  or  mestize  ladyships  ;  far  be  that  from  me ! 
— Hannah  Lewis  (every  one  knows  Hannah  Lewis) 
is  very  fat,  and,  I  believe,  tolerably  respectable.  A 
young  gentleman  may,  as  I  know,  sleep  in  her  house 
salvo  pudore,  and  she  deserves  commendation  for 
the  same.  I  shall  not  criticize  the  morals  of  slat* 
ternly  Betsy  or  tight  bosky  Charlotte ; — things  will 
be — and  the  latitude  and  the  sun — and  the  sailors 
are  so  forward  and  impudent, — and  besides  Betsy 
and  Charlotte  were  born  and  bred  under  the  ancien 
regime,  Consule  Planco ; — mais  on  va  changer  tout 
cela,  are  we  not  Mr. - ? 


12* 


130 


MARTINIQUE. 


Sabina  Braids  is  as  round  as  a  hogshead  of  sugar, 
and  sits  all  day  by  her  kitchen  door,  as  Milton  said 
of  her,  like  a  lady  in  the  centre  of  her  fat.  Her 
house  is  hot. 

Fanny  Collier  is  a  good  soul  and  fat  enough,  but 
she  has  lost  custom  lately  to  Hannah. 

Quae  cum  ita  sint,  I  recommend  Miss  Lewis’  Ho¬ 
tel  to  the  stranger  in  Barbados,  but  Betsy  and  Char¬ 
lotte,  you  know,  are  no  concern  of  mine. 

After  having  paid  my  respects  to  good  Baron,  or 
Comte  Donzelot,  (these  titles  are  equally  trumpery 
like  Esquire  or  Gentleman  in  Ireland,)  a  polite  old 
soldier,  who  is  as  kind  to  the  English  as  Jacob  of 
Guadaloupe  is  uncivil  and  Gaulish,  I  rambled  about 
the  town  to  buy  gloves,  coral,  and  other  vanities. 
It  is  a  pretty  place,  certainly,  with  high  houses,  the 
streets  generally  in  right  angles,  and  water  running 
on  either  side  of  them.  Before  M.  Donzelot’s 
house  is  a  terrace,  shaded  with  an  avenue  of  trees, 
and  pleasantly  looking  on  the  sea.  The  houses 
have  more  of  an  European  air  than  in  our  English 
colonies,  and  I  must  notice  with  praise  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  four  book-seller’s  shops,  as  large  and  well 
furnished  as  any  second  rate  ones  in  Paris.  The 

si^ht  of  books  to  sell  in  the  West  Indies  is  like  wa- 
o 

ter  in  the  desert,  for  books  are  not  yet  included  in 
plantation  stores  for  our  islands.  The  cause  is 
this.  The  French  colonists,  whether  Creoles  or 
European’s,  consider  the  West  Indies  as  their  coun- 


MARTINIQUE. 


131 


try;  they  east  no  wistful  looks  towards  France; 
they  have  not  even  a  pacquet  of  their  own  ;  they 
marry,  educate,  and  build  in  and  for  the  West  Indies 
and  the  West  Indies  alone.  In  our  colonies  it  is 
quite  different;  except  a  few  regular  Creoles,  to 
whom  gratis  rum  and  gratis  coloured  mothers  for 
their  children  have  become  quite  indispensable, 
every  one  regards  the  colony  as  a  temporary  lodg¬ 
ing  place,  where  they  must  sojourn  in  sugar  and  mo¬ 
lasses  till  their  mortgages  will  let  them  live  else¬ 
where.  They  call  England  their  home,  though 
many  of  them  have  never  been  there ;  they  talk  of 
writing  home  and  going  home,  and  pique  themselves 
more  on  knowing  the  probable  result  of  a  contested 
election  in  England,  than  on  mending  their  roads, 
establishing  a  police,  or  purifying  a  prison.  The 
French  colonist  deliberately  expatriates  himself : 
the  Englishman  never.  If  our  colonies  were  to 
throw  themselves  into  the  hands  of  the  North  Ame¬ 
ricans,  as  their  enemies  say  that  some  of  them  wish 
to  do,  the  planters  would  make  their  little  triennial 
trips  to  New  York  as  they  now  do  to  London.  The 
consequence  of  this  feeling  is  that  every  one,  that 
can  do  so,  maintains  some  correspondence  with 
England,  and  when  any  article  is  wanted,  he  sends 
to  England  for  it.  Hence,  except  in  the  case  of 
chemical  drugs,  there  is  an  inconsiderable  market 
for  an  imported  store  of  miscellaneous  goods,  much 
less  for  an  assortment  of  articles  of  the  same  kind. 


132 


MARTINIQUE. 


A  different  feeling  in  Martinique  produces  an  oppo¬ 
site  effect;  in  that  island  very  little  individual  cor¬ 
respondence  exists  with  France,  and  consequently 
there  is  that  effectual  demand  for  books,  wines, 
jewellery,  haberdashery,  &c.  in  the  colony  itself, 
which  enables  labour  to  be  divided  almost  as  far  as 
in  the  mother-country.  In  St.  Pierre  there  are 
many  shops  which  contain  nothing  but  bonnets,  rib¬ 
bons  and  silks,  others  nothing  but  trinkets  and  toys, 
others  hats  only,  and  so  on,  and  there  are  rich 
tradesmen  in  St.  Pierre  on  this  account.  Bridge 
Town  would  rapidly  become  a  wealthy  place,  if 
another  system  were  adopted :  for  not  only  would 
the  public  convenience  be  much  promoted  by  a 
steady,  safe  and  abundant  importation,  and  separate 
preservation  of  each  article  in  common  request,  but 
the  demand  for  those  articles  would  be  one  hundred 
fold  greater  in  Bridge  Town  itself  than  it  now  is  on 
the  same  account  in  London,  Liverpool,  or  Bristol, 
when  impeded  and  divided  and  frittered  away  by  a 
system  of  parcel-sending  across  the  Atlantic.  Sup¬ 
ply  will,  under  particular  circumstances,  create  de¬ 
mand.  If  a  post  were  established  in  Barbados,  or 
a  steam-boat  started  between  the  islands,  a  thou¬ 
sand  letters  would  be  written  where  there  are  one 
hundred  now,  and  a  hundred  persons  would  inter¬ 
change  visits  where  ten  hardly  do  at  present.  I 
want  a  book  and  cannot  borrow  it;  I  would  pur¬ 
chase  it  instantly  from  a  bookseller  in  my  neigh- 


MARTINIQUE. 


133 


bourhood,  bat  I  may  not  think  it  worth  my  while  to 
send  for  it  over  the  ocean,  when,  with  every  risk,  l 
must  wait  at  the  least  three  months  for  it.  The 
moral  consequences  of  this  system  are  even  more 
to  be  lamented  than  the  economical,  but  I  will  say 
more  about  that  at  some  other  time. 

There  are  two  very  good  churches  in  St.  Pierre, 
and  both  of  them  furnished  with  that  mitigated  idola¬ 
try  which  so  advantageously  distinguishes  the  French 
segment  of  the  Papistical  Heresy.  I  have  great 
hopes  that  the  Bishop  of  Gerren  will  succeed  in 
getting  rid  of  some  of  the  absurdities  in  the  Romish 
worship  in  Trinidad.  I  know  he  disapproves  them, 
and  the  example  of  the  sober  splendour  of  the  Pro¬ 
testant  Church  in  their  neighbourhood  will  much 
facilitate  his  endeavours. 

It  was  too  hot  to  walk  to  the  theatre  or  the  bo¬ 
tanical  garden,  but  I  am  told  that  they  are  both  very 
respectable. 

The  colored  women  here,  as  in  St.  Lucia  and 
Trinidad,  are  a  much  finer  race  than  their  fellows 
in  the  old  English  islands.  The  French  and  Spa¬ 
nish  blood  seems  to  unite  more  kindly  and  perfect¬ 
ly  with  the  negro  than  does  our  British  stuff.  We 
eat  too  much  beef  and  absorb  too  much  porter  for  a 
thorough  amalgamation  with  the  tropical  lymph  in 
the  veins  of  a  black;  hence  our  mulatto  females 
have  more  of  the  look  of  very  dirty  white  women 
than  that  rich  oriental  olive  which  distinguishes  the 


134 


MARTINIQUE, 


haughty  offspring  of  the  half  blood  of  French  or 
Spaniards.  I  think  for  gait,  gesture,  shape,  and 
air,  the  finest  women  in  the  world  may  be  seen  on 
a  Sunday  in  Port  of  Spain.  The  rich  and  gay  cos¬ 
tume  of  these  nations  sets  off  the  dark  countenances 
of  their  mulattos  infinitely  better  than  the  plain 
dress  of  the  English.  A  crimson,  green,  or  saffron 
shawl  cocked  (<pwvavra  tfu vsroTtfi)  on  the  head,  and 
bent  back  with  sham  jewels  into  a  tiara,  gives  a  vo¬ 
luptuous  and  imperial  air  which  always  put  me  in 
mind  of  the  proud  mistress  of  the  governor  of  St. 
Jago,  with  whom  that  sly  old  rogue  Ligon  was  so 
smitten. 

Excellent  Eau  de  Cologne  of  many  qualities  and 
prices  at  Betsy  Parker’s ;  the  lowest  sort  sold  for  a 
dollar  a  box,  which  contained  six  bottles.  The 
champagne  at  eighteen  dollars  really  divine,  and  a 
certain  carmine  nectareous  creme  de  Chili  much, 
ah!  much  too  blessed  a  drink  for  throats  in  a  state 
of  moral  probation. 

I  could  get  no  fine  kid  gloves  in  the  shops  which 
I  visited  ;  a  circumstance  surely  deserving  much  re¬ 
prehension.  Tight  fitting  gloves  are  amongst  the 
few  things  by  which  the  French  nation  has  bene- 
fitted  mankind,  and  the  world,  which  they  have  in¬ 
sulted  and  corrupted,  have  a  right  at  least  to  their 
kid  and  double-sewing  as  some  recompense. 

Upon  the  whole  St.  Pierre  is  a  pretty  and  civiliz¬ 
ed  town  undoubtedly,  but  scarcely  deserving  the  ex- 


MARTINIQUE. 


135 


travagant  commendations  which  are  usually  lavish¬ 
ed  upon  it.  It  has  attained  the  acme  of  its  good 
looks ;  it  can  hardly  be  made  more  spacious  or  more 
convenient  in  any  respect  than  it  is ;  it  is  neat  and 
Frenchy,  and  it  cannot  be  more.  But  Port  of  Spain 
is  even  now  a  city  in  design,  and  its  capacity  for 
improvement  of  every  description  is  unlimited. 
With  a  mole,  which  must,  sooner  or  later,  be  built, 
the  magnificent  and  ever  gentle  gulf  of  Paria  wash¬ 
ing  its  walls,  its  freedom  from  hurricanes,  and  com¬ 
manding  position,  I  think  the  time  will  come  when 
Puerto  devEspana,  or  Port  of  Spain,  Colombian  or 
British,  will  more  than  rival  every  capital  in  South 
America.  About  that  time  my  book  will  be  done 
into  smooth  Spanish,  and  they  will  think  me  a 
great  prophet,  and  I  shall  enjoy  my  fame  like  the 
people  who  ride  upon  clouds  in  Ossian. 

And  so  fare  thee  very  well,  romantic  Martinico, 
with  all  thy  green  slopes  of  arrowy  canes,  thy  woody 
glens,  thy  aerial  mountains !  I  wish  indeed  my  dear 
countrymen  had  not  shed  their  precious  blood  in 
vain  for  thee,  but  still  kindly  good  bye,  bright 
island ;  I  have  a  nook  in  my  heart  for  thee  with  all 
thy  Frenchery. 


DOMINICA. 


We  left  St.  Pierre  on  the  20th  with  a  fresh  breeze 
at  E.  by  S.,  but  it  soon  died  away  as  usual  under  the 
lee  of  the  island,  and  afterwards  the  wind  was  so 
light  that,  like  Columbus,  we  did  not  creep  into 
Roseau  Bay  till  early  on  Sunday  morning.  There 
was  only  one  merchant  ship  lying  at  anchor  with 
two  or  three  small  sloops,  and  the  few  stragglers  on 
the  shore  with  the  dirty  row  of  storehouses  im¬ 
pressed  me  with  an  idea  of  want  and  depopulation. 
The  scenery  behind  the  town  is  beautifully  grand  ; 
indeed  the  whole  prospect  from  the  edge  of  Morne 
Bruce,  a  lofty  table  rock  occupied  by  the  garrison, 
is  one  of  the  very  finest  in  the  West  Indies.  The 
valley  runs  up  for  many  miles  in  a  gently  inclined 
plane  between  mountains  of  irregular  heights  and 
shapes,  most  of  which  are  clothed  up  to  their 
cloudy  canopies  with  rich  parterres  of  green  coffee 
which  perfumes  the  whole  atmosphere  even  to 
some  distance  over  the  sea  ;  the  river  rolls  a  deep 
and  roaring  stream  down  the  middle  of  the  vale, 
and  is  joined  at  the  outlet  of  each  side  by  a  moun¬ 
tain  torrent,  whilst  at  the  top,  where  the  rocks  con- 


DOMINICA. 


137 


verge  into  an  acute  angle,  a  cascade  falls  from  the 
apex  in  a  long  sheet  of  silvery  foam.  Beneath,  the 
town  presents  a  very  different  appearance  from 
what  it  does  at  sea;  the  streets  are  long  and 
spacious,  regularly  paved,  and  intersecting  each 
other  at  right  angles  ;  there  is  one  large  square  or 
promenade  ground,  and  the  shingled  roofs  of  the 
houses,  tinged  with  the  intense  blue  of  the  heaven 
above  them,  seem  like  the  newest  slates,  and  put 
me  much  in  mind  of  that  clear  and  distinct  look 
which  the  good  towns  of  France  have  when  viewed 
from  an  eminence. 

Roseau  is  now  in  a  most  singular  state  of  exis¬ 
tence.  Before  the  fire  on  the  evening  of  Easter 
Sunday,  1781,  which  that  scoundrel  Duchilleau 
either  originated  or  promoted,  it  must  have  been 
the  most  commodious  town  of  any  in  the  islands ; 
but  the  tyranny  and  folly  of  the  French  under  this 
governor  were  so  ruinous  both  to  the  colony  in 
general  and  the  town  in  particular,  that  neither  the 
one  or  the  other  have  in  forty  years  been  able  to 
recover  their  former  prosperity.  You  may  walk 
along  a  street  for  half  a  mile  ;  the  houses  seem  to 
be  complete  but  they  are  all  closed ;  the  grass 
grows  lush  and  verdantly  between  the  stones,  and 
a  tamarind  tree,  a  ^sandbox  or  a  mangrove  spreads 
a  rural  shade  under  which  a  woman  many  be  sitting 


*  Hura  crepitans, 
13 


138 


DOMINICA, 


at  work,  or  two  children  playing.  All  is  silent, 
and  soft  and  lifeless  like  a  city  in  the  Arabian 
Nights,  which  some  vile  Afrite  hath  stricken  with 
enchantment.  I  know  no  town  in  the  world  which 
could  be  watered  more  copiously,  easily  and  purely 
than  Roseau  ;  the  river  which  runs  at  less  than  half 
a  mile’s  distance  would,  if  they  would  just  show  it 
the  way,  glide  down  the  gentle  declivity  into  every 
man’s  washing  bason.  But  I  am  afraid  the  spirit, 
which  should  undertake  this  and  many  other  obvi¬ 
ous  and  facile  improvements,  is  at  present  some¬ 
thing  drowsy  in  Dominica  ;  there  is  no  public  voice 
to  call  forth  or  public  encouragement  to  support 
the  exertion  of  individual  virtue  and  talent:  the 
community  is  first  divided  by  language,  then  by 
religion,  and  the  inconsiderable  residue,  which  is 
supposed  to  represent  the  whole,  is  so  torn  to  pieces 
by  squabbles  as  bitter  as  contemptible,  that  the 
mere  routine  of  government  was  at  a  dead  stand, 
while  I  was  in  the  island. 

On  landing  with  the  bishop  I  met  my  hearty, 
smiling,  gallant  friend  John  Bent,  with  left  hand 
arched  upon  his  cap’s  brow,  and  his  right  drooping 
his  Peninsular  sword  to  the  sand  that  was  unworthy 
of  it.  Days,  months,  years  have  passed  since  I 
was  in  the  fifth  form  at  Eton,  what  time,  John 
Bent,  I  used  to  give  thee  breakfast  in  my  room  at 
Bristowe’s,  and  thou  wert  wont  in  return  to  do  thy 
worst  to  make  me  and  the  minor  tipsy  at  the  mess- 


DOMINICA. 


139 


room,  Captain  Bent.  I  am  the  most  changed  ol 
the  two  since  then.  Thou  art  married,  it  is  true, 
and  art  most  happy  with  a  wife  and  child  in  twelve 
feet  by  six;*  but  thou  wert  then  a  man,  a  veteran 
soldier,  a  practical  liver  on  God’s  earth  and  mirth¬ 
ful  to  boot;  so  art  thou  now,  though  of  course  a 
trifle  steadier;  but  lack  a  day!  what  fine  visions 
and  follies  have  vanished  from  my  eyes !  how  many 
blithe  games  am  I  now  unfit  for!  what  sweet  and 
light  sleeps  have  I  lost!  what  boyish  comeliness  is 
gone!  My  golden  time  has  been  wasted,  my  ta¬ 
lents  neglected,  my  innocence  tarnished,  my - 

but  no  more  of  this  ;  I  am  not  writing  confessions. 

The  church  in  Roseau  is  well  situated  and  to¬ 
lerably  finished  without,  but  the  interior  is  in  a  mi¬ 
serable  state.  The  common  pitch  pine,  when  un¬ 
painted,  has  a  particularly  unpleasant  effect  in  a 
hot  climate  ;  it  always  oppressed  me  in  a  remarka¬ 
ble  manner.  About  a  hundred  persons,  chiefly  co¬ 
loured,  attended  the  morning  service;  they  had  few 

*  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  the  accommoda¬ 
tions  for  the  garrison  on  Morne  Bruce  are  infamous, 
and  in  such  a  climate  most  cruel,  especially  to  the  offi¬ 
cers  ;  the  whole  was  a  complete  job,  and  reflects  igno¬ 
miny  upon  the  contractor  and  great  blame  upon  the  pri¬ 
mary  department,  be  he  or  they  who  they  may.  If  the 
most  gallant  soldiers  of  the  line  are  to  be  exiled  within 
the  tropics  for  six  years  in  order  that  others  may  revel 
in  London  at  their  ease,  the  least  that  the  nation  can  do 
for  them  is  to  see  that  no  expense  be  spared  to  make 
their  service  healthy  and  comfortable. 


140 


DOMINICA. 


books,  and  apparently  came  for  the  purpose  of  see¬ 
ing  the  bishop ;  certainly,  with  one  or  two  excep¬ 
tions,  they  were  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  or¬ 
dinary  ritual  of  the  established  religion.  The 
church  of  England  indeed  does  not  flourish  in  Do¬ 
minica,  which,  considering  the  great  capacity  and 
spirituous  affections  of  the  present  worthy  recum¬ 
bent,  is  a  matter  of  some  surprise.  I  believe  there 
are  2,000  Protestants  in  this  colony,  of  which  num¬ 
ber  the  Methodists  form  the  larger  part;  about 
16,000  are  Papists  under  the  care  of  three  Spanish 
priests ;  so  that  it  is  consolatory  to  the  sympathies 
of  obese  and  liquescent  men  to  know  that  if  true 
religion  thrive  not  in  Dominica,  at  the  least  its  mi¬ 
nister  does  upon  an  ample  salary  and  just  so  much 
breathing  exercise  o’  Sundays  as  may  conduce  to  a 
good  digestion  for  the  rest  of  the  week.  Not  that  I 
would  be  thought  to  impeach  the  zeal  of  the  rec¬ 
tor  of  Roseau;  very  far  from  it;  it  is  too  well 
known  to  be  questioned,  and  it  argues  an  unusual 
degree  of  apathy  or  stubbornness  in  those  who  are 
the  daily  witnesses  of  it  that  its  effects  are  not  more 
perceptible. 

Mr.  Newman  is  great  and  remarkable,  but  he  is 
not  so  great  and  remarkable  as  his  predecessor  Mr. 
Audain.  This  Mr.  Audain  was  a  patriot,  few  of 
his  cloth  like  him  ;  he  was  not  content  with  praying 
against  the  enemies  of  his  country,  he  fought 
against  them  also.  St.  Peter  certainly  owned  a 


DOMINICA. 


141 


boat,  and  the  authorized  translation  (Mr.  Audain 
loved  literal  orthodoxy)  intimates  a  partnership 
amongst  some  of  the  apostles  in  a  ship.  So  Mr. 
Audain  built  a  schooner,  and  carried  on  for  many 
years  a  system  of  practical  polemics  with  the  dis¬ 
putants  of  the  French  school  to  his  own  abundant 
profit  and  notoriety.  It  is  even  yet  fresh  in  the  re¬ 
collections  of  the  inhabitants  of  Roseau,  with  how 
joyful  a  rapture  this  holy  Dominican  once  broke  off 
the  service  on  a  Sunday,  unable  to  repress  the  emo¬ 
tions  of  his  triumph  on  seeing  the  vessel  of  his 
faith  sail  into  the  bay  with  a  dismasted  barque  laden 
with  sugar,  rum  and  other  Gallic  vanities  from  Mar¬ 
tinique.* 

*  This  is  like  the  Cornish  vicar.  He  was  preaching 
one  afternoon  in  a  seaside  church  during  a  heavy  south 
west  gale,  when  all  on  a  sudden  his  audience  began  to 
move,  take  down  their  hats,  and  press  towards  the  door. 
The  vicar,  having  the  advantage  of  pulpit  eminence  and 
long  experience,  immediately  perceived  the  cause,  and, 
animated  with  a  just  indignation  at  their  conduct,  or¬ 
dered  them,  as  they  valued  their  souls’  welfare,  to  re¬ 
main  quiet  till  the  end  of  the  sermon.  The  good  man 
in  his  eagerness  to  restrain  them  even  left  the  pulpit, 
and,  like  Aaron,  ran  into  the  midst  of  the  congregation 
rebuking  and  exhorting  them,  till  he  reached  the  porch  ; 
when,  tucking  up  his  gown  under  his  arm,  he  shouted 
out,  “  Now,  my  boys,  let  us  start  fair!”  and  immedi¬ 
ately  scampered  off,  with  his  flock  at  his  heels,  to  admi¬ 
nister  Cornish  relief  to  a  distressed  merchantman. 

My  friend  Mr.  Oxley  in  Barbados  says  he  was  present 
at  a  scene  in  Tortola,  where  Audain  figured  in  the  man¬ 
ner  mentioned  in  the  text ;  probably  it  happened  twice. 

13* 


142 


DOMINICA. 


It  was  shortly  after  this  event  that  the  star  of  Au- 
dain  began  to  wax  dim.  His  zeal  was  equally  great, 
his  courage  undaunted,  but  his  evil  destiny  met 
him  at  every  turn.  An  acquaintance  of  mine  met 
him  one  day  in  the  streets  of  Basseterre  in  St.  Kitt’s. 
surrounded  by  negros,  to  whom  he  was  distributing 
plantains,  yams,  potatoes  and  other  eatables,  and 
holding  private  talk  with  them  all  by  turns.  Hav¬ 
ing  caught  my  friend’s  eye,  he  came  up  to  him  and 

said,  u  I  am  going  to  smuggle  all  these - rascals 

this  evening  to  Gaudaloupe.”  He  did  so  in  his 
schooner,  but  remained  himself  on  shore.  A  pri¬ 
vateer  of  Nevis  captured  the  smuggler  before  she 
could  get  to  her  market.  Audain  became  furious, 
went  himself  to  Nevis,  and  challenged  the  owner  of 
the  privateer  to  fight.  The  challenge  was  not  ac¬ 
cepted,  and  Audain  immediately  posted  the  name 
of  the  recusant,  as  that  of  a  scoundrel,  on  the  wall 
of  the  court-house.  He  himself  for  two  days  kept 
watch  upon  the  platform  with  a  sword  by  his  side 
and  four  pistols  stuck  in  his  belt,  to  see  if  any  one 
dared  to  touch  the  shields. 

Audain  fitted  out  another  schooner  and  cruised  in 
her  himself.  But  fate  was  too  heavy  for  him, 
though  he  struggled  against  it  like  a  man.  On  the 
second  day  a  large  vessel  was  seen  to  leeward ;  he 
ascertained  her  to  be  a  Spanish  trader,  and,  suppo¬ 
sing  her  to  be  wholly  unarmed,  bore  down  on  her 
as  upon  a  certain  prey.  When  he  came  within 


DOMINICA. 


143 


pistol  shot,  fourteen  masked  ports  were  opened  and 
as  many  guns  pointed  at  him  through  them.  Audain 
was  obliged  to  strike  in  an  instant,  and,  with  his 
carpenter,  succeeded  in  secreting  himself  under 
some  water  casks  in  the  hold  of  his  schooner. 
The  Spaniards  came  on  board  and  cut  every  man 
in  pieces,  except  Audain  and  the  carpenter.  These 
two  lay  all  night  under  the  casks,  but  in  the  morn¬ 
ing,  upon  further  search,  their  asylum  was  disco¬ 
vered.  They  were  brought  upon  deck,  and  the 
Spaniards  were  on  the  point  of  hewing  them  by 
inches,  when  their  captain  exclaimed  with  rapidity, 
u  Hold  all !  this  man’s  life  is  sacred,  and  the  other’s 
too  for  his  sake.”  Audain  had  formerly  done  the 
Spaniard  great  service  at  St.  Thomas’,  and  it  now 
saved  his  own  and  his  carpenter’s  life. 

Up  to  this  time,  Audain,  though  occasionally  non¬ 
resident  for  the  aforesaid  reasons,  had  continued  the 
minister  of  Roseau.  He  was  a  singularly  eloquent 
preacher  in  the  pathetic  and  suasory  style,  and  he 
rarely  failed  to  draw  down  tears  upon  the  cheeks  of 
most  of  those  who  heard  him.  His  manners  were 
fine  and  gentle,  and  his  appearance  even  venerable. 
He  was  hospitable  to  the  rich  and  gave  alms  to  the 
poor.  But  his  repeated  losses  were  such  as  to  bear 
a  royal  merchant  down,  and  the  Dominicans  became 
more  scrupulous,  and  a  governor  came  who  knew 
not  Audain.  So  Audain  abdicated  the  pulpit  of 
Roseau. 


144 


DOMINICA. 


Privateering  and  smuggling  had  failed  ;  so  now 
he  commenced  honest  trader.  He  went  to  St. 
Domingo  with  a  cargo  of  corn,  sold  it  well  and  lived 
on  the  island.  But  his  star  grew  fainter  and  faint¬ 
er.  He  quarrelled  with  two  black  general  officers, 
challenged  them  and  shot  them  both  severely. 
Christophe  sent  for  him,  and  told  him  that,  if  the 
men  recovered,  it  was  well,  but  that,  if  either  of 
them  died,  he  would  hang  him  on  the  tamarind  tree 
before  his  own  door.  Audain  thought  the  men 
would  die,  and  escaped  from  the  tamarind  tree  by 
night  in  an  open  boat. 

He  now  settled  in  St.  Eustatius,  put  on  his  black 
coat  again  and  recommenced  clergyman.  St.  Eu¬ 
statius  is  a  free  port;  yet  the  division  of  labour  has 
made  surprisingly  slow  advances  in  it.  There  were 
many  religions,  but  no  priest,  in  the  island  when  Au¬ 
dain  made  his  appearance  there.  He  was  become 
liberally  minded  by  misfortune,  and  he  was  always 
actuated  by  a  faith  of  such  immense  catholicity  that 
it  comprehended  within  its  circle  every  radiation  of 
opinion  from  the  centre  of  Christianity,  as  the  felly 
embraceth  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  Audain  offered 
to  minister  to  all  the  sects  respectively,  which  the 
free  traders  thankfully  accepted.  In  the  morning 
he  celebrated  mass  in  French,  in  the  forenoon  read 
the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,  in  the  after¬ 
noon  sprackened  the  Dutch  service,  and  at  night¬ 
fall,  chanted  to  the  methodists. 


DOMINICA. 


145 


His  star  descended  proner  and  proner  though  he 
seemed  to  be  gaining  wealth  and  fame.  Audain 
was  a  married  man,  but  his  wife  resided  and  still 
resides  at  Bristol.  A  Dutch  widow,  rich,  pious 
and  large,  cast  a  widow’s  eye  on  Audain  ;  the  rigor 
of  creole  viduity  softened  under  the  afternoon 
sprackenings  of  Audain,  as  Dutch  butter  melts 
under  the  kisses  of  Titan,  and  she  told  Audain  that, 
if  Heaven  had  made  her  such  a  man,  she  would 
have  married  twice.  The  hint  was  as  broad  as 
herself,  but  Audain  liked  it  the  better  for  its  dimen¬ 
sions,  and  married  her  on  the  spot,  sprackening  the 
service  himself. 

Audain  has  fought  thirteen  duels,  and  is  a  good 
boxer.  Once  upon  a  time,  he  fired  twice  without 
hitting ;  upon  which  he  threw  down  the  pistol  on 
the  ground,  and  said  sternly  to  his  second,  “  Take 
care  that  does  not  happen  again !”  supposing  his 
pistol  had  not  been  charged  with  ball.  A  delay 
occurred  in  reloading  for  the  third  time,  upon  which 
Audain  went  up  to  his  antagonist,  squared  his  body, 
and  saying,  “  Something  between,  something  be¬ 
tween,  good  sir!”  knocked  him  down  with  a  flush 
hit  on  the  nose. 

Audain  is  now  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  has 
wholly  reformed  his  manners.  He  loves  his  Dutch 
wife,  and  says  his  prayers  so  loud  at  night  as  to  dis¬ 
turb  his  neighbours.  His  English  wife  sends  him  a 
Christmas  box  annually.  He  is  a  man  of  infinite 


146 


DOMINICA. 


talent,  and  has  seen  the  world.  I  trust  the  report 
is  true,  that,  like  Lazarillo  de  Tormes  and  Gines 
de  Pasamonte,  he  is  writing  a  life  of  himself.  It 
would  be  the  most  entertaining  book  of  this  age. 
If  he  does  not,  these  few  lines  may  haply  serve  to 
rescue  him  from  an  oblivion  which  he  does  not 
seem  to  deserve. 

Early  on  Monday  morning  I  started  on  horse¬ 
back  with  my  good  friend  Mr.  Nisbett  to  visit  his 
estate.  The  ride  was  most  delightful.  We  went 
up  the  valley,  forded  the  Roseau  river  twice,  and 
pursued  an  irregular  path  cut  in  the  side  of  the 
mountains.  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the 
size  of  the  ferns;  there  were  whole  forests  of 
them  in  the  dips  and  recesses  of  the  hills,  and  I 
think  most  of  the  separate  trees  stood  twenty  or 
twenty-five  feet  in  height.  Yet  with  these  extra¬ 
ordinary  dimensions  the  branches  were  as  finely 
pennated  and  as  daintily  angled  as  any  which  I 
have  seen  in  England,  and  their  colour  fresh  and 
vivid  beyond  description.  This  is  especially  owing 
to  the  abundance  of  water  which  all  the  year 
round  is  running  down  the  declivities,  and  diffusing 
a  coolness  of  temperature  which  almost  chilled  me. 
I  suppose  Dominica  is  the  best  watered  of  the 
Caribbee  islands.  The  wild  plantain  also  was 
very  conspicuous  in  the  mass  of  greenery  with  its 
immense  leaves  rent  into  slips,  its  thick  bunches  of 
fruit,  and  the  scarlet  receptacle  of  the  seed  hanging 


DOMINICA. 


147 


quaintly  down  the  stem  of  the  tree  by  a  twisted 
rope.  I  do  not  exactly  understand  whether  this 
wild  plantain  is  another  species  of  the  Musa,  or 
simply  that  sort  of  variety  which  is  introduced  by 
the  want  of  culture  and  an  improved  mode  of  pro¬ 
pagation.  The  plantain  is  one  of  the  most  charac¬ 
teristic  productions  of  the  tropics ;  this  and  the 
palms  in  shape,  and  the  aloes  and  cactus  in  size 
have  no  parallels  in  Europe. 

After  a  long  ride  we  came  to  Mr.  Nisbett’s  coffee 
works  and  rested  ourselves  a  space  in  his  barrack. 
Here,  more  meo,  I  devoured  four  oranges  and  half 
of  an  imperial  pine,  and  absorbed  certain  sangaree, 
a  practice  evil  in  principle,  but,  as  I  have  found, 
justifiable  upon  particular  occasions.  The  situa¬ 
tion  was  a  clean  terrace,  jutting  out  from  the  breast 
of  the  mountain  which  rose  to  a  great  height  above 
it.  Palm  trees  stood  around,  coffee  bushes  flou¬ 
rished  upon  the  declivities,  and  cascades  of  water 
burst  through  the  close  vegetation  on  the  ground 
too  precipitous  to  be  planted.  Below  lay  the 
valley,  the  silver  waterfall  gleamed  through  an 
avenue  in  the  hills,  and  magnificent  piles  of  rocks, 
sometimes  black  and  bare,  sometimes  green  with 
countless  traceries  of  creepers,  formed  the  scene 
right  opposite.  As  I  have  said  before,  planters  are 
not  poetical;  but,  my  heart!  if  I  possessed  this 
place,  methinks,  while  young  morning  blushed,  or 
high  noon  slept,  or  gentle  dewy  evening  made 


148 


DOMINICA. 


nature  think  and  pause,  I  would  stroll  upon  my  ter¬ 
race,  or  sit,  three  parts  recumbent,  on  one  of  those 
old  oak  chairs  with  Hastings’  coronet  on  it,  and  for¬ 
get  the  world  of  strife  and  penury  and  pain,  till  I 
lapsed  into  a  citizen  of  the  other  world  of  peace 
and  plenty  and  joy  !  ovap. 

From  this  spot  I  perceived  the  smoke  ascending 
from  two  different  soufrieres  a  little  higher  up  the 
mountains,  and  after  we  had  ridden  some  way  far¬ 
ther  on,  the  smell  of  the  sulphureous  exhalations 
became  very  strong.  Soufriere  is  the  common 
name  in  the  West  Indies  as  well  for  the  active  vol¬ 
canos  of  St.  Vincent’s  and  Guadaloupe,  as  for 
those  numerous  quarries  of  hot  sand  and  springs  of 
boiling  water,  which  are  themselves  either  the 
remains  of  ancient  craters,  or  the  imperfect  erup¬ 
tions  from  a  soil  highly  impregnated  with  volcanic 
elements.  1  went  down  into  both  of  these,  though 
it  was  difficult  to  find  any  ground  sufficiently  solid 
to  bear  a  man’s  weight :  the  water  was  in  a  state 
of  violent  ebullition  at  one  source,  and  perfectly 
cold  at  another  six  feet  from  it.  The  soil  was  so 
hot  that  I  was  obliged  to  be  continually  lifting  up 
my  feet,  like  a  bear  learning  to  dance,  and  the 
fumes  of  the  sulphur  were  so  penetrating  and  the 
heat  altogether  so  intense,  that  I  really  felt  a  chill¬ 
ing  change  on  the  surface  of  my  body  upon  return¬ 
ing  again  to  the  cloudless  light  of  a  vertical  sun  at 
noon.  I  collected  some  exquisite  crystals,  but  I 


DOMINICA. 


L49 


could  not  preserve  them  in  my  rambles.  1  drank 
some  of  the  water  from  the  hot  spring  after  it  had 
cooled ;  it  was  transparent  and  insipid.  There  are 
some  ponds  close  by  which  are  clear  and  cold  with¬ 
out  any  symptoms  of  existing  volcanic  action,  though, 

1  suppose,  originally  derived  from  it. 

Much  of  the  country  about  this  part  is  covered 
with  coffee  bushes,  and  here  and  there  are  patches 
of  cacao.  Mr.  Nisbett  intends  to  cultivate  the  lat¬ 
ter  more  largely.  The  galba  is  chiefly  planted  for 
fence  and  shade,  and  a  beautiful  thing  it  is.  The 
bois  immortel  is  used  here  for  marking  boundaries, 
but  it  is  an  inferior  and  inconsiderable  tree  in  com¬ 
parison  with  the  magnificent  native  of  Trinidad. 
Land  crabs  crawl  in  great  numbers  across  the 
roads,  and  the  crapauds,  enormous  frogs  of  the  co¬ 
lour  and  size  of  about  ten  fat  toads,  are  eaten  by 
those  who  like  them.  It  is  the  most  unbearable 
beast  I  ever  saw.  I  can  hardly  think  of  it  now 
without  being  qualmish.  I  can  eat  monkey,  snake 
or  lizard;  there  is  not  much  in  that;  but  verily  to 
munch  and  crush  and  squeeze ...  gah !  it  is  down¬ 
right  cannibalism  and  popery.  Dear  brethren,  have 
ye  not  yams,  plantains,  eddoes  ?  ye  are  called  Chris¬ 
tians  ! 

Upon  my  return  to  Government  house  the  chief 
Popish  priest  called  on  us.  I  believe  his  name  is  Ji- 
meo ;  he  is  a  South  American  and  speaks  three  or 
four  languages  in  parts  without  apparently  knowing 
14 


150 


DOMINICA. 


even  one  completely.  They  tell  ludicrous  stories 
of  his  polyglot  jargon  in  Dominica,  and  certainly 
the  specimen  I  had  of  it  was  at  least  very  curious. 
It  was  something  in  this  style. 

“  Como  esta,  Monsieur  ?  J’espere  que  usted  se 
porte  vary  well.  II  fait  mucho  calor  aqui.  Es 
preciso  que  usted  tienne  bon  cuidado  de  yoursel, 
nam  sol  est  violens.  Ah  !  gracias,  senor !  Dulce 
vinum  est  quasi  lac  senis  hominis,  c’est  a  dire;... 
entiende  usted  le  Latin  ?” 

“  Un  poco.” 

“  Ah !  j’ai  dit  que  el  dulce  vino  es  la  leche  de  un 
viejo.  Le  Latin  est  good  ting,  muy  good  know¬ 
ledge  ;  sin  el  Latin  rien  to  be  done.” 

“  Usted,  senor,  loquitur  Latin  as  elegamment 
como  the  Espanol  seu  French.” 

“  Ah !  vous  me  flattez,  sir.  Todo  lo  que  yo  ten- 
go,  je  l’ai  appris  en  Venezuela ;  mais  ce  fut  quando 
la  Venezuela  estaba  floreciente  debajo  del  cetro 
del  gran  rey  de  Espana ;  pero  toga  cedit  armis  ;  no 
hay  ninguna  ciencia  a  present  dans  ces  pays-la  ;  sum 
valde  tristis  sometimes  de  hoc,  car  yo  tengo  beau- 
coup  d’amour  de  mi  patria  ;  pauvre  Amerique !” 

However  I  am  told  he  is  a  worthy  man,  and  I  am 
bound  to  say  that  a  general  good  report  was  given 
of  the  sobriety  and  temperate  zeal  of  the  Romish 
priests  in  the  colony.  I  believe  the  bishop  of  Ger- 
ren  expressed  himself  well  satisfied  with  this  part 
of  his  diocese,  which,  until  the  light  of  the  Gospel 


DOMINICA. 


151 


can  be  made  to  shine  in  the  darkness  of  Popish  he¬ 
resy,  is  quite  as  much  as  can  be  expected. 

There  are  a  few  families  of  the  aboriginal  Ca- 
ribs  living  on  the  windward  side  of  the  island,  but 
they  have  scarcely  any  intercourse  with  the  rest  of 
the  population,  and  all  I  learned  about  them  was, 
that  they  were  gradually  decreasing  from  a  continu¬ 
ed  system  of  intermarrying  within  a  very  narrow 
circle. 

Some  of  the  F rench  creoles  in  this  colony  are  men 
of  considerable  wealth;  they  live  retired  on  their 
estates,  but  are  withal  hospitable  and  fond  of  a  good 
deal  of  feudal  display.  The  contrast  between  the 
English  and  French  colonist  is  nowhere  more 
strongly  seen  than  in  Dominica. 

They  consider  wet  or  dry  weather,  each  quite 
exclusive  of  the  other,  as  healthy,  but  irregular  rain 
and  sunshine  usually  induces  ague  and  intermittent 
fevers. 

We  took  our  leave  of  General  Nicolay  and  his 
accomplished  lady  at  nine  at  night,  rowed  to  the 
Eden  which  had  been  lying  on  and  off  for  some 
time  for  us,  and  steered  for  Montserrat. 


MONTSERRAT. 


YV  e  stoic  slowly  under  the  high  ridges  of  Dominica 
during  the  night,  and  were  only  just  clear  of  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  island  by  the  morning. 
Then  the  breeze  freshened  at  E.  by  N.,  and  having 
crossed  the  scene  of  the  action  between  Rodney 
and  de  Grasse  in  1782,  where  Tom  Rowland,  the 
mason  in  my  town,  lost  his  precious  leg  by  a  splin¬ 
ter,  we  passed  gaily  by  the  Saintes,  some  rocky 
islets  belonging  to  the  French,  but  which  were 
chiefly  occupied  during  the  war  by  the  English  for 
the  purpose  of  refitting,  when  it  might  have  been 
difficult  to  beat  up  to  English  Harbour.  In  the 
Grande  Sainte  there  is  a  pottery  and  a  few  canes. 
Marigalante  lay  on  the  horizon  due  east  behind  the 
Saintes.  At  three  p.  m.  we  breasted  the  southern 
point  of  the  great  island  of  Gaudaloupe,  and,  as  the 
wind  came  round  freer,  we  ran  into  the  roadstead 
before  Basseterre,  and  dashed  gallantly  by  the 
Frenchman  within  fifty  yards  of  the  shore.  I  be¬ 
lieve  the  folks  thought  we  were  going  to  cut  out  a 
merchantman,  or  run  ourselves  against  the  shingles 
or  fun.  It  seemed  a  very  pretty  towrn,  and,  I  am 


MONTSERRAT* 


153 


told,  is  a  most  convenient  one ;  there  was  an  agree¬ 
able  show  of  trees  peeping  over  the  tops  of  the 
houses,  and  the  hospital  built  by  the  English,  and 
the  governor’s  mansion  were  conspicuous  at  the 
northern  end.  This  hospital  is  said  to  have  been 
since  destroyed  in  the  hurricane  of  July,  1825,  when 
230  persons  or  more  perished  in  various  miserable 
ways.  The  garrison  at  Prince  Rupert’s  bay  in  Do¬ 
minica  suffered  at  the  same  time  considerably. 
The  country,  though  apparently  very  fine,  had  not 
quite  so  finished  an  air  of  cultivation  as  in  Marti¬ 
nique,  but  its  features  were  bolder  and  more  magni¬ 
ficent.  Some  of  the  planters’  houses  were  upon  a 
larger  scale,  and  more  attention  to  comfort  in  the 
adjoining  premises  seemed  to  be  displayed  than  is 
usual  in  the  English  colonies.  The  wind  fell,  as  it 
almost  always  does,  under  the  long  lee  of  the  high 
land,  and  it  was  about  seven  a.  m.  of  the  25th,  be¬ 
fore  we  cast  anchor  in  the  open  road  of  Plymouth. 

I  must  needs  say  I  have  a  vehement  desire  to 
abuse  this  island  through  thick  and  thin.  I  declare 
I  cannot  to  this  day  think  of  the  ducking  I  got  upon 
first  landing  or  rather  watering  at  Plymouth  with¬ 
out  an  emotion  of  anger,  which  forces  me  to  leave 
my  chair  and  take  three  or  four  turns  up  and  down 
my  room  before  my  pulse  sinks  to  its  usual  quiet 
pitch.  Though  a  jetty  or  pier  might  be  constructed 
with  a  trifling  expense  by  simply  rolling  a  few  large 
blocks  of  the  stone,  which  abounds  on  the  spot. 

14* 


154 


MONTSERRAT. 


into  the  water,  yet  these  provoking  people  would 
rather  that  themselves  and  every  human  being,  who 
visits  or  leaves  their  island,  should  get  drenched, 
than  stir  one  step  towards  erecting  it.  In  fact  they 
rarely  go  from  the  shore  themselves,  and  they  are 
fools  enough  to  be  amused  with  the  misadventures 
of  others.  And  then  like  true  Creoles,  what  they 
are  to  indolent  to  do,  they  conveniently  declare  is 
impossible  to  be  done  at  all.  Here’s  a  pretty  thing ! 
They  call  their  island  the  Montpelier  of  the  West 
Indies,  (in  verity  no  great  compliment,)  and  when 
invalids,  rheumatics  and  others,  lured  by  the  name, 
come  for  relief  to  breathe  its  air,  the  first  thing  they 
have  to  undergo  is  a  forcible  anabaptism  in  salt 
water,  and  then  to  be  converted  into  drying  horses 
for  their  clothes  under  a  tropical  sun.  I  am  sure  it 
is  a  subject  of  particular  thanksgiving  to  me,  that  I 
did  not  for  ever  lose  the  use  of  my  shoulders  and 
knees  on  this  occassion.  Captain  Lawrence  had 
severe  rheumatism  in  his  left  elbow  for  a  week 
afterwards.  I  have  been  trying  to  make  a  begin-' 
ning  to  this  end  of  a  verse, 

- et  inhospita  littora  Montis 

Serrati - , 

but  it  is  miserable  to  feel  how  quickly  all  that  Eton 
craft  goes  out  of  the  fingers.  However  I  mean  to 
be  very  savage,  and  I  speak  my  mind  the  more 
freely,  because  in  many  other  respects  I  admire 
Montserrat,  and  regret  that  a  nuisance  should  be 


MONTSERRAT* 


155 


'suffered  to  exist  in  the  threshold  of  this  lovely  little 
country,  which  must  ruffle  the  temper  of  any  one 
who  is  made  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  moreover  hath 
the  rheumatism.  I  am  not  vindictive;  no  !  I  have 
not  a  particle  of  the  thing  in  my  nature ...  I  have 
a  grateful  recollection  of  the  turtle  at  the  Court 
House,  though  we  were  kept  for  our  dinner  so  long 
that  any  thing  but  that  exquisite  soup  would  have 
come  too  late  ;  the  Madeira  too  was  pure  and 
milky,  and  the  beer  clean.  These  things  do  not 
pass  from  my  mind  as  they  do  from  my  body  ;  they 
have  a  post-existent  life  with  me,  and  I  refer  to 
them  frequently  for  the  purposes  of  contrast,  simili¬ 
tude,  or  the  reviving  of  my  affections. 

It  is  indeed  commonly  but,  I  apprehend,  hastily 
said,  that  turtle  is  eaten  in  greater  perfection  in 
England  than  in  the  West  Indies.  The  cookery,  I 
confess,  is  more  studied  and  elaborate,  more  science 
is  shown  in  the  anatomy,  and  superior  elegance  in 
the  dishing.  Besides,  it  is  a  greater  rarity,  and  its 
visits,  few  and  far  between,  leave  something  of  an 
angelic  smack  upon  the  palate  of  a  worthy  recipi¬ 
ent  in  England.  But  setting  aside  this  last  advan¬ 
tage,  or  rather  justly  esteeming  plenty  a  blessing,  a 
man  of  unprejudiced  appetite  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  deciding  in  favour  of  the  consumption  of  turtle 
on  the  spot  of  its  birth.  The  nature  of  this  fine 
animal  is  not  understood  by  European  cooks ;  they 
distrust  the  genuine  savour,  and  all  but  annihilate  it 


156 


MONTSERRAT. 


by  bilious  additaments  of  their  own  composition. 
The  punch  too,  though  pleasurable  per  se,  is  drunk 
so  largely  as  to  wash  out  all  remembrance,  all  rumi¬ 
nation  of  the  past,  and  I  have  seen  some  persons 
so  grossly  ignorant  as  to  drink  once  or  even  twice 
before  they  have  finished  their  soup !  This  should 
not  be.  A  single  lime  is  sufficient;  squeeze  it  and 
cut  it  in  slices  afterwards  over  the  various  regions 
of  your  plate.  The  soup  should  be  served  up  in 
a  capacious  tin  shell,  and  should  always  be  well 
lined  inside  with  a  thin  crust  of  pastry ;  the  worst 
consequence  may  follow  upon  the  neglect  of  this 
last  particular,  for  the  liquor  becomes  lukewarm, 
tenuous  and  watery,  by  immediate  contact  with 
ware  or  metal.  In  England  I  have  always  found 
a  crassitude,  a  pinguedinous  gravity  in  the  meat 
which  makes  one  repent  the  having  eaten  it;  it 
enervates  the  body  with  a  sort  of  dry  drunkenness, 

Atque  affligit  humi  divinae  particulam  aurae. 

In  the  West  Indies  turtle  is  a  generous  food  cer¬ 
tainly,  but  honest  and  unsophisticated  ;  it  adminis¬ 
ters  in  a  small  space  that  nourishment  which  the 
great  exhaustion  of  the  system  requires,  and  there 
is  a  freshness  and  a  recency  in  it,  which  quickens 
the  palate  and  invigorates  the  organs  of  taste.  At 
a  dinner  in  England,  it  must  be,  as  they  say  and  do 
in  the  city,  turtle  once  and  turtle  throughout;  a 
man  indeed  has  no  heart  or  appetite  for  any  thing 


MONTSERRAT, 


157 


else  after  so  much  acid  punch  and  morbid  soup  as 
is  absorbed  there.  In  the  West  Indies  turtle  is  a 
gentle  alarum,  as  from  a  silver  trumpet  blown  ;  it  is 
the  proparasceve  of  our  manducatory  energies, 
the  regretted  prophagomenon  of  Apicius.  A  glass 
of  Madeira  (it  should  be  Sercial,  if  possible)  is  the 
best  thing  after  this  soup  ;  the  wine  flows  in  a  kindly 
stream  of  coalescence  with  what  has  been  eaten 
before,  and  harmonizes  with  what  is  to  follow  ;  lime 
punch  creates  a  discontinuance,  as  the  lawyers  say, 
and  in  effect  spoils  your  dinner. 

Abbe  O’Hannam,  a  tall  Irish  Romish  priest,  gave 
the  health  of  the  Bishop  of  Jamaica,  and  talked 
about  our  eminent  prelate  and  so  on.  It  was  bad 
taste  in  Abbe  O’Hannam  to  dine  with  us  at  all,  but 
it  was  gross  in  the  Abbe  to  give  such  a  toast.  The 
compliment  was  uncalled  for  from  him,  and  nobody 
could  think  the  Abbe  sincere  in  what  he  said. 

The  Protestants  and  Papists  are  as  good  friends 
in  Montserrat  as  they  are  in  Ireland.  Indeed  the 
faithful  Catholic  here  has  anticipated  the  fruits  of 
emancipation ;  he  considers  it  highly  absurd  to 
suffer  himself  to  be  deprived  of  great  political 
advantages  for  the  sake  of  a  few  oaths,  when  a 
priest  actually  resides  in  the  island ;  and  accord¬ 
ingly,  having  called  God  to  help  him  as  he  utterly 
disbelieves  Transubstantiation,  he  marches  into 
the  House  of  Assembly,  and  there  gives  his  vote. 
Nothing  can  be  easier  than  this  process,  and  1 


158 


MONTSERRAT. 


publish  it  here  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  Irish. 
English  and  Scotch  Papists,  who  may  not  have 
patience  to  wait  till  Parliament  open  the  doors  of 
legislation  to  them.  I  could  not  ascertain  the  num¬ 
bers  of  the  adherents  of  the  Romish  church  in 
Montserrat.  Abbe  O’Hannam  says  there  are 
4,000 ;  the  President  told  me  there  were  forty. 
They  intermarry,  and  in  most  cases  the  Abbe 
loses ;  a  thing  which  the  Abb6  should  look  into, 
for  the  reverse  takes  place  in  England. 

The  negros  here  have  an  Irish  accent,  which 
grafted  on  negro  English  forms  the  most  diverting 
jargon  I  ever  heard  in  my  life. 

But  if  you  ever  visit  Montserrat,  good  reader, 
go,  even  if  you  have  only  one  day,  to  the  Soufriere. 
I  have  seen  a  thousand  beautifnl  things  in  the  West 
Indies,  but  I  cannot  even  now  think  over  my  morn¬ 
ing  ramble  to  this  Soufriere  without  feeling  my 
heart  swell  with  love  and  sorrow  that  I  shall  never 
see  it  again.  Most  of  our  party  had  gone  off  to 
sleep  on  board,  but  the  sight  of  the  launch  in  a 
canoe  over  and  through  the  surf  sickened  me  ;  I 
had  no  stomach  for  a  repetition  of  the  morning’s 
ducking,  and  independently  of  rheumatism,  I  knew 
that 

albo  ventre  lavari 

was  no  joke  to  any  one.  So  I  accepted  the  hospi¬ 
tality  of  the  learned  Dr.  Dyett,  and  after  a  very 
edifying  and  abundantly  charitable  discourse  upon 


MONTSERRAT. 


159 


the  quality  and  form  of  Popery,  I  snoozed  away  the 
night  in  a  barrack  room  in  the  Doctor’s  court  yard, 
oblivious  of  all  sublunary  things  except  the  barking 
of  dogs.  West  India  turtle  lies  light  as  a  feather, 
ind  claret  is  as  thin  as  air;  so  by  the  first  dawn  I 
assayed  to  rise,  what  time  shoeless  and  uncinctured 
Betsy  pushed  her  black  eyes,  yellow  face  and  white 
teeth  through  the  door  with  “  How  you  do,  my  mas- 
?a  ?  La  !  what  white  skin  !  gee  !  gee !  gee  !” 
{  Ay,  Betsy,”  said  I,  “  the  colour  would  be  worth 
something  to  you  ;  but  just  at  present  go  and  get  me 
some  coffee  !”  And  so  fortified,  and  mounting  some¬ 
body’s  horse,  (many  thanks  to  the  unknown  owner!) 
I  paced  through  the  quiet  old  town,  and  having  join¬ 
ed  my  companion  at  the  very  worthy  Mr.  Luck- 
cock’s,  we  set  out  upon  our  excursion. 

At  first  the  road  lay  along  the  margin  of  the  sea, 
then  wound  inwards  by  a  gentle  acclivity  towards 
the  mountains.  It  was  like  one  of  my  native  De¬ 
vonshire  lanes  ;  no  primroses  or  violets  were  there 
indeed,  but  the  snowy  ^amaryllis  drooped  her  long 
and  delicate  petals  like  a  lovesick  girl ;  the  thrice 
gorgeous  hibiscus  was  unveiling  his  crown  and  fea¬ 
thers  of  scarlet,  and  the  light  limes  and  darker 
orange  trees,  which  formed  a  verdant  hedge  on 
either  side,  were  exhaling  their  perfumed  incense  to 
Him  who  made  them  so  beautiful  and  so  good.  A 


*  Pancratia  Carribbsea. 


160 


MONTSERRAT. 


thin  grey  cloud  obscured  the  sun,  whilst  an  Atlantic 
breeze  blew  gently  and  freshly  upon  my  face  and 
open  neck.  The  air  was  as  cool  as  on  a  May  morn¬ 
ing  in  England,  but  so  inexpressibly  soft,  so  rare 
and  subtle  to  the  senses  that  I  think  the  ether  which 
angels  breathe  cannot  be  purer  stuff  than  this.  O  ! 
Temples  twain,  Middle  and  Inner.  O  !  Courts, 
together  with  all  houses,  outhouses,  easements  and 
commodities  thereunto  appertaining,  even  then  did 
I  think  of  you  ! 

After  this  I  nearly  broke  my  neck  in  a  dry  gulley 
which  was  about  as  good  a  bridle  path  as  the  steps 
to  the  top  of  St.  Paul’s.  I  remember,  when  I  was  at 
Eton,  a  great  piece  of  work  was  made  about  an  offi¬ 
cer’s  riding  up  the  hundred  steps,  and  the  discreet 
Windsorians  planted  a  huge  post  at  the  bottom  to 
prevent  any  such  risk  of  life  for  the  future  5. .  .why, 
the  hundred  steps  are  no  more  to  be  compared  to 
the  last  two  miles  before  you  come  to  the  brink  of 
the  Corral,  or  even  to  this  poor  gulley  in  Montserrat 
than  I  to  Hercules,  a  meeting  house  to  a  church, 
W estminster  to  Eton,  or  any  other  equally  appropri¬ 
ate  dissimile. 

The  gulley  ended  in  one  of  those  green  Savanas 
which  nature  has  oftimes  so  mysteriously  cleared  in 
the  midst  of  the  impenetrable  virgin  woods  of  tro¬ 
pical  regions.  No  difference  of  soil  or  situation 
can  be  the  cause;  you  may  lean  your  back  against 
the  frontier  tree  of  a  forest  which  no  axe  or  torch 


MONTSERRAT. 


161 


hath  ever  invaded,  and  stretch  your  body  on  the 
meadow  turf  where  scarcely  a  weed  can  be  seen. 
There  is  no  man  to  fell  these  trees  or  divert  their 
growth  ;  there  is  no  hedge  or  wall  or  trench  to  im¬ 
pede  their  march  ;  but  God  said  to  the  Forest  as  he 
said  to  the  Sea,  “  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  far¬ 
ther.”  The  view  was  beautiful ;  behind  me  the 
woody  mountain  rose  into  the  clouds,  before  me  it 
descended  in  a  long  grassy  slope  to  the  edge  of  the 
sea  ;  on  my  left  hand  to  the  south,  the  broad  and 
irregular  eminences  of  Guadaloupe  presented  the 
appearance  of  a  continent ;  to  the  north  Redonda 
shone  like  an  emerald  in  the  midst  of  the  blue 
waves,  and  beyond  it  stood  the  great  pyramid  of  Ne¬ 
vis  cut  off  from  sight  at  one  third  from  its  summit 
by  an  ever  resting  canopy  of  clouds.  The  wind 
was  so  fresh,  the  air  so  cool,  the  morning  dew  so 
healthy  and  spangling  that  I  might  have  forgotten, 
but  for  the  deep  beauty  that  was  around  me,  that  I 
was  still  within  the  tropics.  I  seemed  to  have  left 
all  languor  and  listlessness  below,  and  really  felt  for 
a  season  the  strength,  the  spirits  and  the  elasticity  of 
youthful  life  in  England.  At  this  spot  I  and  my 
companion  (and  he  was  a  very  pleasant  one)  tied 
our  horses  to  a  tree  and  began  to  descend  a  circui¬ 
tous  and  overarched  path  to  the  vale  of  the  Sou- 
friere. 

This  is  a  very  wild  and  romantic  scene.  The 
whole  of  the  bottom  of  the  valley  is  broken  into 
1 5 


162 


MONTSERRAT. 


vast  and  irregular  masses  of  clay  and  limestone 
which  are  scattered  about  in  the  utmost  confusion, 
and  render  it  a  laborious  task  to  scramble  and  leap 
from  one  to  another.  The  surface  of  the  ground  is 
hot  every  where,  and  so  much  so  near  the  streams 
of  water  which  ran  between  the  fragments  that  I 
could  not  keep  my  foot  half  a  minute  upon  it.  The 
water  at  its  source  boils  up  violently,  and  very 
gradually  cools  as  it  finds  its  way  in  a  thousand 
meanders  to  the  sea.  A  thick  vapour  slowly  rises 
upwards  till  it  meets  the  wind  which  cuts  it  off  at  a 
straight  line  and  drives  it  down  to  the  coast.  The 
sides  of  the  mounds  of  clay  are  entirely  crusted  with 
pure  alum,  formed  by  the  constant  action  of  the  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  of  the  water  and  the  exhalations.  In 
the  midst  of  all  this  there  is  a  green  and  luxuriant 
vegetation  of  bushes  and  creepers ;  some  of  the 
flowers  were  marvellously  beautiful,  and  seemed  to 
me  to  be  peculiar  to  the  spot.  The  mountains, 
which  rampart  round  this  solitary  glen,  are  of  a  skiey 
height ;  they  appear  indeed  higher  than  they  really 
are,  for  their  lancet  peaks  are  never  seen  except 
dimly  and  at  intervals  through  the  vast  and  moving 
masses  of  clouds,  which  are  first  driven  from  the 
east  against  the  other  side  of  the  sierra,  then  are 
pressed  upwards,  and  at  last  come  rolling  and  tum¬ 
bling  over  the  summits  into  the  vale  below.  The 
wood  which  clothes  every  inch  of  Chance’s  Moun¬ 
tain  is  soft,  level  and  uniform,  feathering  him  with  a 
grasslike  plumage  as  an  Indian  warrior,  whilst  every 


MONTSERRAT. 


163 


branch  and  every  leaf  bend  devotedly  forwards  to 
the  setting  sun  under  the  unceasing  breath  of  the 
Trade  wind. 

The  people  of  Montserrat  say  they  are  very  poor, 
and,  as  their  friend,  I  am  fain  to  believe  them  ;  for 
surely  nothing  but  the  direst  necessity  could  recon¬ 
cile  their  generous  hearts  to  the  present  accommo¬ 
dations  of  their  legislature  and  the  unworthy  desti¬ 
tution  of  their  respectable  President.  The  Coun¬ 
cil  and  Assembly  of  this  island  hold  their  important 
deliberations  in  two  rooms  in  which  a  Devonshire 
farmer  would  scruple  to  hoard  his  apples  ;  and  Mr. 
Herbert,  who  has  worn  a  cocked  hat  in  their  defence 
for  thirty  years,  has  neither  a  bed  to  lie  on  allowed 
to  him,  nor  a  table  to  feed  on,  nor  a  purse  where¬ 
with  to  purchase  a  few  alleviations  of  the  toils  of 
government.  His  Majesty’s  authority  and  His  Ma¬ 
jesty’s  revenue  shine  together  with  concentric  rays 
from  the  windows  of  His  Majesty’s  Custom  House. 
No  salary  whatever  is  allowed  to  the  President,  and 
it  is  only  within  a  year  or  so  that  they  have  con¬ 
sented  to  indemnify  him  for  the  expense  of  official 
postage.  Now  I  really  must  say  that  all  this  is  dis¬ 
creditable,  or  in  the  vulgar  scandalous,  or  in  the 
vernacular  blackguard  ;  it  should  be  reformed  alto¬ 
gether.  Let  a  plain  Government  House  be  built 
or  bought  in  the  town,  and  a  few  hundreds  of  their 
currency  stuff  added  to  make  the  head  of  their 
community  respectable,  and  enable  him  to  entertain 


164 


MONTSERRAT. 


the  guests  of  the  colony  with  propriety.  There 
is  enough  wealth  in  Montserrat  to  effect  this,  and  it 
concerns  the  reputation  of  the  planters  as  gentle¬ 
men,  to  do  it. 

The  town  of  Plymouth  to  wit,  is  small,  but  many 
of  the  houses  are  singularly  well  built  of  a  fine  grey 
stone,  and  have  a  substantial  and  comfortable  ap¬ 
pearance.  The  jail  is  the  ruinous  remnant  of  an 
old  fort,  a  sort  of  parcus  clausus  where  no  man  of 
common  humanity  would  imprison  a  transgressing 
donkey.  However  they  are  accustomed  to  it  and 
know  no  better,  as  the  old  woman  said  of  her  eels 
when  she  put  them  i’  the  paste  alive  ;  “  she  rapped 
’em  o’  the  coxcombs  with  a  stick,  and  cry’d,  Down . 
wantons ,  down.”  This  precious  devil’s  hole  in  the 
wall  should  be  put  into  the  index  expurgatorius  of 
my  friend  Dr.  Dyett. 

There  are  two  churches  in  the  island  ;  the  first 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  town  is  in  very  good  con¬ 
dition,  which  is  not  a  little  owing  to  the  zeal  and 
even  manual  skill  of  Mr.  Luckcock  the  rector  of 
the  parish  of  St.  Anthony.  The  other  church  in  St. 
Peter’s  parish  is  a  good  deal  out  of  repair,  and  no 
service  has  been  performed  in  it  for  more  than  a 
year.  Effectual  measures  however  have  been  taken 
for  putting  the  building  into  decent  order,  and 
when  that  is  done,  another  clergyman  will  be  added 
to  the  establishment  of  the  colony. 


MONTSERRAT. 


165 


There  are  6,396  slaves  in  Montserrat,  a  consider¬ 
able  number  of  whom  are  entirely  debarred  from 
any  mental  instruction.  This  is  the  case  with  all 
those  who  are  unfortunately  the  property  of  a  noted 
Papist  of  great  influence,  and  of  other  planters  who 
have  the  pusillanimity  to  sacrifice  their  consciences 
to  his  contemptible  prejudice.  The  residue  are 
taught  the  catechism  by  Mr.  Luckcock,  who  also 
preaches  and  expounds  portions  of  Scripture  to 
them  with  more  or  less  frequency  according  to  the 
distance  of  their  residence  from  Plymouth.  The 
Bishop  has  lately  placed  a  catechist  under  this  wor¬ 
thy  minister’s  direction,  and  it  is  earnestly  to  be 
hoped  by  every  friend  to  the  true  interests  of  the 
colony,  that  means  will  not  always  be  wanting  for 
still  further  increasing  the  number  and  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  those,  by  whose  exertions  a  religious  and 
moral  spirit  may  be  excited  in  the  slaves,  and  the 
peaceable  subordination  of  the  whole  class  be  in¬ 
sured. 

The  methodists  will  pardon  the  freedom  I  take 
in  expressing  my  suspicions  that  the  evil,  which 
they  have  done  upon  the  long  run  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  is  but  scantly  counterpoised  by  a  certain 
sobriety  of  exterior  which  they  have  inflicted  on 
their  sect.  One  remark  seems  level  to  the  lowest 
capacity  and  the  most  sordid  prejudice.  The 
planters  in  the  West  Indies  profess  to  be  apprehen¬ 
sive  of  insurrection;  nevertheless  they  admit  secta- 
15* 


166 


MONTSERRAT. 


rians  of  one  denomination  or  another  into  their  es¬ 
tates  ;  the  negros  are  a  very  curious  and  observant 
race,  and  after  they  have  learnt  that  there  is  a  God, 
the  next  thing  they  learn  is,  that  their  master  does 
not  worship  him  in  the  same  manner  with  them¬ 
selves.  They  believe  their  worship  is  true,  and 
therefore  they  must  think  their  master’s  false. 
While  they  remain  on  the  brink  of  civilization,  this 
will  have  but  inconsiderable  consequences,  but  the 
seeds  are  laid,  a  beginning  is  effected  ;  the  individual 
or  his  family  becomes  more  knowing  in  process  of 
time ;  he  perceives  the  ingredients  of  distinction 
more  clearly,  and  gradually  and  necessarily  imbibes 
that  spirit  of  separation  which  religious  schism  is 
sure  to  generate.  Moreover  a  completely  organiz¬ 
ed  espionage  is  a  fundamental  point  in  the  system  of 
the  methodists  ;  the  secrets  of  every  family  are  at 
their  command ;  parent  and  child  are  watches  on 
each  other,  sister  is  set  against  sister  and  brother 
against  brother ;  each  is  on  his  guard  against  all, 
and  all  against  each.  In  this  manner  these  secta¬ 
rians  possess  an  army  of  dependants  already  lodged 
within  every  house  and  fixed  in  the  heart  of  every 
plantation.  Their  dominion  over  these  poor  peo¬ 
ple  is  as  absolute  as  was  ever  that  of  Jesuits  over 
Jesuits ;  the  fear  of  being  turned  out  of  their  class* 

*  Anguilla  a  man  told  me  he  was  in  God  Almighty’s 
class,  but  that  if  the  minister  knew  that  he  had  been  at 
a  dance,  he  would  turn  him  down  into  the  Devil’s  class. 

Thus  (worse  than)  fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread. 


MONTSERRAT. 


167 


operates  like  the  dread  of  losing  the  caste  in  Ilin- 
dostan,  and  the  negros  know  that  this  formidable 
power  rests  entirely  with  their  ministers.  That 
this  power  has  been  abused  I  shall  not  at  present 
take  upon  me  to  assert ;  that  it  may  be  abused  to 
the  most  fearful  purposes  I  am  sure.  This  is  no 
imaginary  picture  of  my  drawing;  let  the  gentle¬ 
men  of  Antigua  say  how  this  matter  stands  with 
them !  Do  they  not  sometimes  look  about  them,  and 
speculate  upon  possible  contingencies?  Do  they 
not  repent  the  encouragement ;  do  they  not  fear  the 
power  of  the  methodists  ?  They  will  not  deny  it.* 

*  I  never  come  alongside  of  the  methodist  spy-sys¬ 
tem  without  thinking  of  poor  Tom  Smith’s  stanzas. 
Tom  was  always  humming  them  by  himself,  as  Johnson 

with  “  Aye  !  but  to  die - They  allude  to  his  own 

experience  of  a  practice  not  uncommon  in  the  present 
day. 

I  knew  a  maid  who  did  always  command 
All  her  dear  swains  to  a  third  gentleman 
Them  for  to  try,  if  they  did  keep  pace 
With  the  third  gentleman’s  notions  of  grace. 

Three  the  third  gentleman  plucked,  and  the  third, 

As  I’ve  been  told,  was  hardly  deterred, 

In  arguend.  about  Hume  et  Calvin  urn, 

A  currend.  ad  argument,  baculinum. 

Last  came  a  youth  whom  the  third  gentlemen 
Chose  for  the  husband ;  he  had  a  can 
Of  rottenness  full  and  Predestinate  Hell, 

To  make  a  young  maiden  live  happy  and  well. 

Passion  o’  me !  as  John  Suckling  did  say, 

That  ever  a  lady  should  so  throw  away 


168 


MONTSERRAT. 


The  planters,  inasmuch  as  they  are  members  of 
the  church  of  England,  are  bound  in  conscience  to 
see  that  their  dependants  are  instructed  in  the  prin- 
ciples  of  that  church  ;  but,  putting  the  obligation  of 
duty  out  of  the  question,  it  is  palpable  to  common 
sense  that  it  is  their  present  interest  to  do  so.  That 
sooner  or  later  the  slaves  in  the  British  colonies  will 
all  be  fully  and  properly  instructed,  cannot  be  a 
doubt  with  any  one  who  quietly  observes  the  signs 
of  the  times;  a  large  number  of  them  in  different 
places  possess  at  this  moment  a  measure  of  skill  and 
knowledge,  of  which  their  masters  are  not  always 
aware,  and  which  the  slaves  value  in  proportion  to 
its  rarity.  The  colonists  have  no  more  power  to 
arrest  this  slow  but  unceasing  march  of  intelligence 
than  they  could  have  to  stop  a  mountain  in  its  fall, 
or  divert  a  torrent  in  its  downward  course.  They 
would  be  crushed  or  drowned  in  the  attempt,  and  I 
am  not  sure  that  their  fate  in  such  a  case  would  be 
much  lamented.  Now,  if  there  is  one  owner  of 
slaves  who  believes  that  sooner  or  later  those  slaves, 
themselves  or  their  descendants,  will  and  must  be 
educated,  is  it  not  plainly  his  interest  to  bind  them 

Such  a  pair  of  blue  eyes,  such  lips  of  delight 
On  an  underhand,  yellow-faced,  Puritan  wight — 

And  all  for  because  this  silly  young  maid 
Was  led  astray  by  that  artful  old  blade 
The  third  gentleman ; — Devil  him  take, 

And  duck  him  and  souse  in  his  nethermost  lake  ! 


MONTSERRAT. 


169 


to  him  by  every  moral  tie  imaginable,  and  is  it  noi 
as  obviously  dangerous  to  encourage  or  permit  a 
mode  of  education  which  necessarily  tends  to  alien¬ 
ate  them  from  him  ?  Can  there  be  a  bond  of  con¬ 
nexion  more  sacred  or  lasting  than  identity  of  reli¬ 
gious  worship;  can  there  be  a  source  of  hostility 
more  sure  or  prolific  than  sectarian  zeal  ?  At  pre¬ 
sent,  the  educated  planter  may  despise  the  poor 
black  methodist  slave;  but  we  may  be  sure,  if  an¬ 
other  system  be  not  adopted,  the  time  will  come 
when  the  methodist  slave  will  be  the  methodist  free¬ 
man,  and  the  power  to  coerce  will  precisely  cease, 
when  the  force  and  danger  of  license  will  more  than 
ever  call  for  it. 

That  the  methodists  have  done  some  present  good 
amongst  the  negroes  in  many  of  the  islands  I  do  not 
deny ;  it  is  partly  a  shame  to  England,  and  partly  to 
the  colonial  clergy  that  there  was  any  acknowledg¬ 
ed  field  for  their  services.  But  as  an  effective 
church  establishment  has  at  length  been  commenc¬ 
ed,  and  will,  I  most  fervently  hope,  be  perfected 
and  maintained,  so  the  time  should  seem  to  be  past, 
when  a  Christian  minister  could  think  and  say  that 
the  souls  of  the  slaves  within  his  parish  were  not 
within  his  cure.  That  time  has  been,  but  it  is  past, 
or  it  is  passing  while  I  write.  The  pretence  that 
the  numbers  of  the  clergy  were  inadequate  to  such 
a  duty  is  more  than  half  taken  away;  the  sophism, 
(for  so  it  appears  to  me,)  that  the  teacher  of  a  lower 


170 


MONTSERRAT. 


or,  to  speak  plainly,  of  a  more  vulgar  stamp  is  re¬ 
quired  for  the  uncultivated  negros  has  been  expos¬ 
ed.  I  am  yet  to  learn  why  erudition  and  good  man¬ 
ners  are  to  disqualify  a  minister  of  the  gospel  from 
teaching  and  humanizing  a  negro.  Why  will  we 
consent  that  our  Christian  religion,  a  religion  which 
enjoins  courtesy  and  prudence  as  virtues,  should 
unnecessarily  and  through  wilful  neglect  on  our 
parts  be  degraded,  if  I  may  so  speak,  and  disfigured 
by  the  ignorance  and  coarseness  of  men  who  neither 
are,  nor  in  any  nation  or  age  ever  were,  intended 
for  the  ministry  ?  I  am  sure  that  quite  as  much  dis¬ 
cretion  is  necessary  in  the  work  of  instructing  the 
slave  population  as  in  the  known  labours  ot  attend¬ 
ing  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  free  ;  in  fact,  much 
more  is  necessary  ;  for  the  course  of  the  missionary 
is  through  an  undiscovered  sea,  where  his  charts 
serve  him  not,  and  his  experience  is  baffled  by  no¬ 
velty;  where  the  wisest  may  fail,  but  where  the 
wise  is  more  likely  to  succeed  and  to  succeed  ef¬ 
fectually  than  the  rash,  rude,  although  pious,  men 
whom  the  perverse  benevolence  of  thousands  at 
home  is  yearly  sending  out  with  roving  commissions 
against  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  foreign  com¬ 
munities. 

But  enough  of  this  matter  at  present,  for  the 
Eden  is  under  weigh  and  has  fired  a  gun  and  the 
Captain’s  gig  is  waiting  for  us  a  cable’s  length  from 
the  shore.  So  we  will  shake  hands,  pretty  island  ; 
and  now  for  another  launch  in  a  canoe  ! 


MONTSERRAT. 


171 


N.  B.  The  pure  old  Montserrat  rum,  however 
the  market  may  be,  is  really  a  choicer  spirit  than 
the  Jamaica.  Grog  from  this  rum,  with  a  dash  of 

lime  or  lemon  juice,  is  a  pretty  tipple  indeed - 

cosa  mayor,  as  the  Dons  say. 


NEVIS. 


We  left  Montserrat  at  noon  on  Thursday  the  25th 
with  the  wind  very  fresh  at  S.S.E.,  passed  Redonda 
in  the  mid-channel,  which  is  well  enough  represented 
in  the  charts  as  like  a  large  haycock,  except  that  it 
is  quite  green,  and  cast  anchor  in  the  open  bay  or 
road  before  Charlestown  at  five  in  the  evening. 
We  did  not  land  till  early  the  next  morning.  The 
appearance  of  Nevis  is  perhaps  the  most  captiva¬ 
ting  of  any  island  in  the  West  Indies.  From  the 
south  and  west  it  seems  to  be  nothing  but  a  single 
cone  rising  with  the  most  graceful  curve  out  of  the 
sea,  and  piercing  a  fleecy  mass  of  clouds  which 
sleeps  for  ever  round  its,  summit.  It  is  green  as 
heart  can  conceive,  perfectly  cultivated,  and  enli¬ 
vened  with  many  old  planters’  houses  of  a  superior 
style  and  churches  peeping  out  in  the  most  pictu¬ 
resque  situations  imaginable.  A  complete  forest 
of  evergreen  trees  grows  like  a  ruff  or  collar  round 
the  neck  of  the  high  land  where  cultivation  ceases. 
On  the  north  and  the  east  the  cone  is  not  so  per¬ 
fect  ;  it  falls  off  in  one  direction  in  a  long  slope 
which  terminates  in  a.plain  towards  the  Narrows  of 


NEVIS. 


173 


St.  Kitt’s,  and  is  broken  to  windward  into  one  or 
two  irregular  hills.  Columbus  is  said  to  have  given 
the  present  name  to  this  island  from  the  mountain 
of  Nieves  in  Spain.  Edwards  supposes  that  a 
white  smoke  issued  in  that  age  from  a  volcano  now 
extinct,  but  perhaps  the  vapours,  which  rest  on  the 
summit,  may  more  probably  have  suggested  the 
idea  of  snow.  However,  without  thinking  of  snow 
at  all,  Columbus  may  have  simply  transplanted  a 
favourite  Spanish  name  with  no  more  propriety 
than  when  he  called  the  neighbour  island  after  the 
famous  mountain  near  Barcelona. 

Charlestown  is  a  larger,  smarter  and  more  popu¬ 
lous  place  than  the  capital  of  Montserrat.  It  lies 
along  the  shore  of  a  wide  curving  bay,  and  the 
mountain  begins  to  rise  immediately  behind  it  in  a 
long  and  verdant  acclivity.  The  Court  House  is  a 
handsome  building  with  a  square  in  front ;  it  con¬ 
tains  a  hall  on  the  ground  floor  for  the  Assembly 
and  the  Courts  of  Law,  and  another  room  up-stairs 
for  the  council.  The  public  offices  are  all  placed 
at  one  end  of  the  hall.  The  chairs  for  the  mem¬ 
bers,  the  table,  railing  and  the  whole  furniture  is 
remarkably  neat,  and  put  me  in  better  humour  with 
these  notable  legislatures  than  any  thing  I  had  seen 
elsewhere.  The  town  church  is  small  and  much 
encumbered  within,  but  the  yard  around  it  is  plant¬ 
ed  with  many  evergreen  trees  and  decently  inclosed 
with  a  wall.  This  last  circumstance  is  so  rare  in 
1G 


174 


NEVIS. 


the  West  Indies,  that  its  occurrence  inspires  great 
pleasure  and  calls  to  mind  the  sweet  solemnity  of 
a  country  churchyard  in  England.  Neither  was 
the  eye  shocked  by  any  of  those  enormous  vaults 
above  ground,  which  disgrace  the  burying  places  in 
the  Colonies,  in  beauty  are  inferior  to  lime-kilns, 
and  in  pride  beggar  a  Mausoleum.  I  know  not 
whether  the  Nevisians  have  yet  arrived  at  such  a 
pitch  of  common  sense  as  to  admit  their  slaves  and 
coloured  freemen  to  Christian  burial  in  their  church¬ 
yards  or  not,  but  certainly  very  few  parishes  in  any 
of  the  islands  have  done  so.  Really,  with  defe¬ 
rence  to  my  betters,  it  seems  to  me  that  during  the 
present  depression  of  the  sugar  market  the  gentle¬ 
men  and  ladies  of  the  colonies  waste  a  great  deal 
of  good  money  and  labour  in  a  very  unnecessary 
operation.  For  my  part,  when  a  white  man  and  a 
black  man  are  both  stone  dead,  I  doubt  if  one  be 
much  better  than  the  other ;  but  grant  that  the 
white  carcase  is  worth  the  most,  Lord  bless  you,  my 
white  friends,  you  need  not  be  so  much  afraid  of 
lying  side  by  side  with  the  blackest  slave  you  have ! 
A  time  will  come  when  one  angel  or  another  will 
pick  you  up  as  clean  as  ever  you  lay  down,  and  se¬ 
parate  you  from  Quaco  as  far  as  you  shall  wish ! 
Besides,  remember  that  even  your  big  lumpish  bone 
houses  are  in  vain, 

Quandoquidem  data  sunt  ipsis  sua  fata  sepulcris. 

To  the  south  of  the  town,  at  half  a  mile’s  dis- 


NEVIS. 


175 


lance,  are  situated  the  mineral  baths  on  a  rising 
ground  near  the  margin  of  the  sea.  The  establish¬ 
ment  is  very  large,  and  can  afford,  as  I  was  told, 
accommodations  for  forty  or  fifty  boarders.  An 
invalid  with  a  good  servant  might  take  up  his 
quarters  here  with  more  comfort  than  in  any  other 
house  of  public  reception  in  the  West  Indies.  At 
present  the  thing  does  not  answer,  the  building 
being  in  fact  too  large  and  the  depreciation  of 
colonial  produce  rendering  it  difficult  to  afford  a 
mineral  spring  illness.  There  are  three  spacious 
plunge  baths  on  terraces  one  above  the  other  and 
varying  in  their  temperature  from  50°  to  100° 
Fahrenheit.  The  lowest  and  largest  is  now  given 
up  to  the  boarders  and  others  as  a  turtle  crawl. 
There  the  poor  flat  gawky  creatures  flounce  about 
till  they  become  sulphuretted  to  a  certain  culinary 
degree,  which  is  known  by  the  Eatable  beginning 
to  lose  his  equilibrium,  and,  instead  of  lying  level 
on  the  water,  to  sink  half  his  body  edgeways 
under,  and  leave  the  other  half  an  upright  semi¬ 
circle  in  the  air.  When  this  sign  of  the  times 
appears,  the  fortunate  owner,  impatient  of  the  joy, 
erects  his  head  and  snuffs  the  coming  soup  ; — 

Genialis  agatur 

Iste  dies  ! 

cries  he,  and  now  Turtle  cannot  reasonably  expect 
any  thing  better  than  death  and  dressing. 

I  rode  entirely  round  this  island  with  the  excep- 


176 


NEVIS. 


tion  of  a  mile  or  two  on  the  windward  side,  and 
found  it  uniformly  rich,  verdant  and  beautiful. 
The  roads  are  tolerable,  though  liable,  in  the  low  ¬ 
lands  on  the  north,  to  be  injured  by  floods.  How¬ 
ever,  you  may  go  whither  you  please  in  a  gig, 
which  certainly  must  be  allowed  to  be  a  great  sign 
of  civilization.  There  were  two  steam  engines 
employed  in  grinding  canes,  a  thing  which  1  had 
not  seen  any  where  else,  except  in  Trinidad. 
Surely  where  water  and  coals  may  be  commanded, 
the  certainty  and  rapidity  of  making  the  sugar 
would  in  the  long  run  be  worth  the  additional  ex¬ 
pense.  How  frequently  does  it  happen  upon  large 
estates  that  whole  acres  of  canes  are  spoilt,  or  the 
current  year’s  market  lost  by  the  irregularity  of 
the  wind  !  Besides  this,  the  saving  of  labour  is  im¬ 
mense,  though  the  steam  is  not  turned  in  Nevis  to 
half  the  work  it  ought  to  do,  and  the  planters  should 
remember  that  labour  saved  is  labour  got,  and  that 
all  the  time  which  their  slaves  now  consume  in  the 
long  lingering  crop  season  under  the  windmill  sys¬ 
tem,  might  be  employed  in  a  superior  and  more 
minute  culture  of  the  soil,  in  building  and  repairing 
houses,  in  rearing  more  provisions  of  various  sorts, 
and  in  numberless  other  public  works  of  necessity 
or  convenience  for  the  non-fulfilment  of  many  of 
which  at  present  they  plead  inability  from  want  of 
hands.  To  be  sure  there  is  so  much  statuquoitism 
in  the  old  colonies  that  fire  will  hardly  burn  some 


NEVIS. 


177 


of  their  prejudices  out  of  their  heads ;  but  in  the 
new  colonies,  whenever  the  estates  are  much  and 
generally  underhanded  upon  the  old  system,  there 
steam  engines  are  and  must  be  introduced,  or  the 
cultivation  of  sugar  will  be  abandoned. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  which  island  produces  the 
best  pines.  The  ruby  or  blood  pine  of  Trinidad 
is  the  most  magnificent  in  appearance ;  the  black 
Antigua  is  perhaps  the  richest  and  most  vinous  in 
taste ;  they  have  few  pines  in  Barbados,  but  ever 
and  anon  you  may  meet  with  one  there  which  sur¬ 
passes  them  both.  The  finest  oranges  are  without 
doubt  to  be  found  in  St.  Kitt’s,  Nevis  and  Montser¬ 
rat;  indeed,  with  the  exception  of  the  production 
of  these  islands,  there  are  no  specimens  of  this 
fruit  so  good  as  those  which  grow  in  Piccadilly. 
In  Nevis  a  man  is  always  placed  as  sentinel  in  a 
pinery,  for  otherwise  those  dogs  the  monkeys,  who 
are  very  good  livers  and  know  a  ripe  pine  to  a  day, 
are  sure  to  take  an  evening  walk  from  the  mountain, 
and  will,  I  am  told,  fairly  pick,  pack,  and  carry 
away  all  the  eatable  fruit  in  a  garden  at  one  visit. 
Certainly  Jacco  is  a  rogue,  a  villain,  a  thief,  yet 
the  fellow’s  cleverness  is  so  great,  his  malice  so 
keen,  his  impudence  so  intense,  that  it  exceeds  the 
hardness  of  my  heart  not  to  like  him.  You  may 
offer  your  fine  green  Seville  oranges  to  him  by 
handsfull ;  deuce  o’  bit  of  the  rind  of  ten  thousand 
of  them  will  Jacco  touch;  no!  no!  massa — dem 
16* 


178 


NEVIS. 


monkies  savey  what  bitter  as  well  as  buckra  !  And 
here  I  must  take  notice  of  the  luncheon  we  enjoyed 
at  Mr.  Cottle’s  house,  where  the  pines  and  oranges 
were  most  ambrosial.  Here  I  learned  how  to  eat 
guava  jelly.  Let  it  be  served  in  a  bell-mouthed 
glass,  pierce  it  with  a  knife,  and  pour  Madeira  (I 
had  Malmsey)  into  the  fissure.  The  wine  lubri¬ 
cates  and  enlivens  the  guava,  and  entirely  takes 
away  that  mawkish  sweetness  which  usually  cloys 
the  palate  of  every  person  but  a  West  Indian. 

The  temperature  is  so  low  upon  the  estates  higher 
up  the  mountain,  that  many  European  vegetables 
are  grown  there,  as  sea-kale,  turnips  and  carrots. 
Mr.  Cottle  has,  I  think,  peaches  and  strawberries 
also.  Indeed  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  if  any 
persons  thought  it  worth  their  while  to  make  the 
experiment  with  a  proper  attention  to  soil  and 
situation,  a  large  proportion  of  the  valuable  trees 
and  culinary  vegetables  of  countries  lying  in  very 
different  latitudes  might  be  interchangeably  trans¬ 
planted.  Let  it  be  considered  that  of  the  count¬ 
less  productions  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  which 
England  now  possesses,  perhaps  not  two  per  cent, 
are,  what  is  called,  indigenous  to  the  soil ;  the  rest 
have  been  imported  by  the  labour  of  man.  The 
very  commonest  of  them  all,  good  luck  to  it  with 
its  honest  jacket !  lives  equally  wrell  in  Ireland  as 
under  the  equator ;  and  can  there  be  any  doubt  that 


NEVIS. 


179 


the  yam,  an  inestimable  root,  would  flourish  just  as 
well  by  its  side  ? 

We  dined  and  slept  at  the  Government  House,  a 
very  convenient  and  pleasant  residence  a  little  above 
the  town.  We  ate  well ;  more  particularly,  the 
turtle  was  excellent  and  dressed  with  extraordinary 
care,  but  I  never  drank  worse  in  the  West  Indies  ; 
the  wine  was  absolutely  a  disgrace  to  the  colony. 
Surely  a  small  stock  of  common  London  particular, 
if  nothing  else,  might  be  kept  for  public  occasions 
without  impoverishing  the  treasury ;  they  would 
have  done  better  if  they  had  given  us  some  plain 
punch  with  guava  jelly  in  it,  for  their  old  rum  is 
commendable  in  a  high  degree.  And  then,  when  1 
went  to  bed  thirsty  and  out  of  humour,  I  found  my 
room,  which  had  not  been  used  for  some  time,  full 
of  mosquitos,  and  a  very  imperfect  kind  of  curtain 
to  protect  me.  Beelzebub,*  who  in  virtue  of  his 
principality  commands  the  whole  of  this  infernal  fly¬ 
ing  brigade,  grinned,  no  doubt,  at  my  vexation ;  he 
loves  to  see  a  man  go  to  bed  angry,  for  then  the 
blood  gets  feverish,  and  the  stings  of  his  troops  are 
doubly  poisonous  upon  the  heated  face,  and  the  filthy 
blotches  more  permanent.  1  rolled  and  tossed 
about  like  Achilles, 

AXXor’  itfi  tfXsupas  xoctocxs![xsvo^,  aXXors  S’  avrs 

Ttfnos,  aXXore  ds 


*  Prince  of  Flies. 


180 


NEVIS. 


bat  the  foul  fiend  had  me  and  got  drunken  with  my 
gore.  I  might  well  have  groaned  out  what  one  of 
the  middies  in  the  Eden  said  afterwards, 

“  Jam  satis  terrse  Nevis  atque  dirae  ! 

Let  us  aboard  !’? 

There  are  five  parish  churches  and  two  large 
private  chapels  in  this  little  island.  With  one  ex¬ 
ception  the  former  were  in  excellent  condition,  and 
all  of  them  are  situated  in  the  most  picturesque 
spots  that  can  be  conceived.  The  view  from  the 
Lowland  church  upon  the  blue  Narrows,  the  islet 
in  the  middle,  and  the  serpentine  shores  of  St.  Kitt’s 
beyond,  is  very  pretty,  but  Figtree  church  is  the 
most  perfect  thing  I  ever  saw.  It  is  situated  half 
way  up  the  mountain,  and  looks  down  upon  a  wide 
expanse  of  sea,  the  town,  the  ships,  the  whole  length 
of  St.  Kitt’s  and  the  top  of  St.  Eustatius  beyond  all. 
The  burying  ground  is  properly  inclosed  ;  there  is 
a  very  good  organ  which  a  nice  looking  girl  played 
upon  for  our  sakes,  and  the  whole  interior  was  as 
neat  as  it  could  be.  This  was  Lady  Nelson’s  pa¬ 
rish,  and  there  is  a  monument  to  her  father  or  some 
relation  erected  by  her  in  it.  There  is  also  an  old 
marble  with  the  name  of  Stapleton  Cotton  engraved. 
The  church  at  Gingerland  is  neat,  and  from  a  part 
of  the  road  near  it  I  saw  Montserrrat,  and  Antigua 
also  lying  on  the  horizon.  The  two  chapels  were 
built  on  their  respective  estates  by  Mr.  Cottle  and 


NEVIS. 


181 


Mr.  Huggins,  junior,  and  are  spacious  and  well 
adapted  to  their  purpose.  However,  with  all  these 
conveniences  for  public  worship,  there  are  only  two 
clergymen  at  present  on  the  island,  and  so  the  pa¬ 
rishes  are  merely  served  in  turn.  Besides  this,  the 
salary  which  the  legislature  gives  to  each  parish 
minister  is  wholly  inadequate  to  a  decent  mainte¬ 
nance,  and  what  makes  bad  worse  is,  that  the 
planters  pay  it  in  sugar.  Now  this  practice  not 
only  makes  the  clergy  to  a  certain  extent  traders, 
but  they,  poor  souls,  are  fain  to  take  their  misera¬ 
ble  stipend  in  worse  sugar  than  the  king  himself, 
which  all  the  world  knows  is  in  the  other  islands 
the  very  vilest  that  can  be  found.  The  Bishop 
remonstrated  so  strongly  against  this  custom  that  I 
hope  it  will  be  given  up,  and  a  sum  of  money  certain 
be  substituted  in  its  place.  The  pretence  of  not 
having  cash  enough  in  the  island  is  hardly  valid  in 
this  age  of  political  economy,  as  if  in  common  cases 
cash  were  not  one  of  the  easiest  commodities  in  the 
world  to  be  had,  when  you  possess  any  thing  where¬ 
with  to  purchase  it.  This  the  real  money  the  Ne- 
visians  have ;  some  of  them  are  rich. 

I  cannot  help  observing  that  the  planters  of  Nevis 
and  Montserrat  ought  to  be  more  attentive  to  the 
clothing  of  their  slaves  than  for  the  most  part  they 
appear  to  be.  Independently  of  its  being  an  almost 
necessary  preliminary  to  any  improvement  in  the 
manners  of  a  negro,  it  is  reajly  cold  on  many  estates 


182 


NEVIS. 


in  these  islands,  and  creatures  of  heat  as  these  poor 
people  are,  they  become  exquisitely  susceptible  of 
a  change  of  temperature  which  an  Englishman  ora 
white  Creole  scarcely  perceives.  In  fact,  I  was  as¬ 
sured  by  a  medical  man  in  Montserrat  that  the  ne- 
gros  on  the  hill  estates  did  often  suffer  much  from 
cold,  and  my  own  observation  justified  the  remark. 
A  planter,  in  my  opinion,  if  he  really  wishes  to  do 
good,  ought  to  insist  upon  all  his  slaves  being  cloth¬ 
ed  who  are  above  the  age  of  five  years,  the  women, 
as  women  in  every  country  under  the  sun  ought  to 
be  clothed,  fully  and  properly,  the  men  in  trowsers 
and  a  checked  shirt  with  a  pair  of  braces.  Domes¬ 
tics,  even  for  one’s  own  vanity  sake,  should  be 
made  to  wear  shoes  and  stockings,  or  shoes  at  all 
events,  and  though  I  would  not  enforce,  I  would 
encourage  the  same  practice  in  the  case  of  the  field 
labourers.  The  planters  themselves  say,  and  for 
the  most  part  they  say  truly,  that  the  negros  have 
the  means  or  may  have  the  means  of  procuring 
these  articles  for  themselves ;  if  they  have,  they 
should  be  made  to  purchase  them  ;  if  they  have  not, 
it  is  the  undoubted  duty  of  the  planters,  as  they  are 
masters,  Christians,  and  gentlemen,  to  give  them. 
I  suspect  the  man  who  talks  to  me  about  preaching 
and  teaching  and  baptizing,  when  he,  at  least  for 
his  own  part,  should  be  measuring  and  sewing  and 
building;  for  until  you  have  taught  a  man  or  a  wo¬ 
man  to  respect  themselves,  it  is  vain  for  you  to  at- 


NEVIS. 


183 


tempt  to  teach  them  to  respect  any  thing  else :  and 
observe  that  the  question  is  not  with  savages  of  the 
forest,  who  only  know  themselves,  and  to  whom  ig¬ 
norance  of  shame  is  as  the  clothing  of  innocence  be¬ 
fore  the  Fall ; — no !  these  slaves  know  that  they  are 
naked ;  they  live  in  immediate  contact  with  their 
masters  whose  manners  they  remark,  and  they  daily 
see  the  more  favoured  of  their  own  color  decked  out 
with  finical  extravagance.  Many  do  indeed  become 
shameless  by  the  dire  force  of  habit,  but  not  all ;  for 
not  seldom  have  1  watched  a  poor  girl  in  the  fields 
who  has  turned  away  from  the  gaze  of  man,  and 
shrouded  her  bosom  with  crossed  arms  and  declin¬ 
ing  head. 

1  turned  out  of  the  road  in  going  to  Ginger-land 
to  see  a  banyan  tree.  It  was  like  the  pictures  of  it 
which  I  have  seen  in  East  Indian  books ;  the  lowest 
and  heaviest  limbs  shoot  out  in  an  exactly  horizon¬ 
tal  line  to  a  great  length,  and  are  really  supported 
by  a  row  of  pillars  decreasing  in  size  towards  the  ex¬ 
tremity  of  the  branch  ;  all  the  upper  part  of  the  tree 
is  free  from  these  pendent  suckers,  and  is  like  any 
other. 

The  jail  is  just  such  another  hole  as  the  one  in 
Montserrat,  but  it  was  quite  good  enough  for  two  of 
its  inmates  at  least,  while  I  was  in  Nevis.  These 
two  wretches  were  both,  1  think,  free  coloured  men, 
and  as  atrocious  criminals  as  ever  deserved  to  dance 
upon  nothing.  Many  slaves  had  at  different  times 


184 


NEVIS 


been  missing  from  different  estates  ;  search  had  al¬ 
ways  been  made  upon  the  several  occasions  but  with¬ 
out  success,  and  it  was  supposed  that  they  had  escap¬ 
ed  to  a  French  colony.  The  fact  was  this.  These 
two  men  used  to  persuade  a  slave,  whom  they  sup¬ 
posed  to  possess  some  stock  in  money  or  otherwise, 
to  run  away  with  them  from  his  master,  assuring 
him  that  they  would  take  him  off  the  island  to  a 
ship,  where  he  might  assert  his  freedom.  When 
they  had  gotten  their  victim  some  way  from  land  in 
a  boat,  they  used  to  throw  him  overboard.  It  is 
frightful  to  think  how  many  poor  creatures  they 
hurled  in  an  instant  from  life  in  this  manner ;  at 
length  one  man,  whom  they  had  disposed  of  in  this 
way,  was  by  some  act  of  Providence  saved  from 
drowning,  and  by  his  means  in  the  end  the  murder¬ 
ers  were  apprehended.  It  seems,  however,  that 
there  is  no  law  to  punish  them  for  the  felonies  com¬ 
mitted  on  the  sea,  and  the  evidence  was  imperfect : 
and  I  understood  that  after  being  kept  ad  libitum 
Nevisiensium  in  the  custody  of  our  Lord  the  King 
in  his  aforesaid  jail,  these  villains  must  be  let  loose 
again.  It  is  said  by  speculatists,  that  perpetual  im¬ 
prisonment  is  a  severer  punishment  than  loss  of  life  : 
if  so,  it  may  be  a  reasonable  question,  whether  one 
year’s  putrefying  in  the  prison  of  Charlestown  be 
not  equivalent  to  captivity  for  life  in  any  of  the 
Bridewells  of  the  great  Grand  Duke. 

The  mean  temperature  of  Nevis  and  Montserrat 


NEVIS. 


135 


is  certainly  lower  than  in  any  other  of  the  Antilles. 
If  a  man  would  bring  his  resources  with  him,  espe¬ 
cially  a  wife,  he  might  live  in  a  delightful  retire¬ 
ment  in  many  of  the  sweet  hill  recesses  of  either  of 
these  islands.  I  should  prefer  Madeira  indeed  for 
a  residence  on  account  of  its  vicinity  to  England, 
and  also  because  I  have  partly  engaged  to  marry  a 
lady  there  when  we  are  both  come  to  years  of  dis¬ 
cretion  ;  but  I  should  often  run  down  the  trades, 
and  spend  the  winter  within  the  tropics.  Not,  how¬ 
ever,  that  I  would  prejudice  the  twice  venerable 
Temples  twain  by  any  outlandish  comparisons  ;  no! 

Fortunati  nimium,  sua  si  bona  norint 
Causidici ! 

and  yet  the  law  is  a  bore  to  a  man  of  poetical  imagi¬ 
nation,  which  is  odd  enough,  considering  how  it 
dealeth  in  the  most  novel  and  surprizing  fictions  in 
the  world.  Mathematics  are  a  bore  of  course,  be¬ 
cause  Fancy  starves  at  the  surfeit  of  Reason;  but 
why  she  should  starve  in  law,  where  Heaven  truly 
knows  that  Reason,  poor  soul,  is  often  fain  to  look 
big  upon  a  mighty  scurvy  dinner,  is  past  my  com¬ 
prehension.  But,  no  doubt,  I  have  much  to  learn, 
and  so  we  will  say  no  more  about  the  matter.  For 
it  is  wisely  remarked  by  the  profound  Lazarillo, 
“  that  to  understand  to  perfection  the  meanest  art 
or  science  requires  the  greatest  capacity  and  skill. 
If  you  bid  a  shoemaker,  who  has  been  thirty  years 
17 


186 


JNEVIS. 


in  the  trade,  make  a  pair  of  shoes  with  broad  toes, 
high  in  the  instep  and  tight  about  the  heels,  he  must 
pare  your  feet  before  he  fits  you  ;  or  ask  a  philoso¬ 
pher  why  flies’  dung  is  black  upon  a  white  place  and 
white  upon  a  black  one,  he  will  blush  you  like  a 
maiden  on  her  wedding  night,  and  answer  nothing 
to  the  purpose !” 

And  I  defy  the  Royal  Society  to  give  a  decent  ex¬ 
planation  of  that  mystery  at  the  present  day. 


ST.  CHRISTOPHER’S. 


We  set  sail  from  Nevis  at  three  p.  m.  of  the  28th. 
and  ran  down  to  our  anchoring  place  before  Basse¬ 
terre  at  eleven  knots  under  a  heavy  squall.  We 
did  not  land  till  the  next  morning,  and  I  spent  the 
hour  before  sunset  in  looking  from  the  ship  upon  the 
beautiful  island  before  us.  The  vale  of  Basseterre 
in  softness,  richness  and  perfection  of  cultivation 
surpasses  any  thing  I  have  ever  seen  in  my  life. 
Green  velvet  is  an  adequate  image  of  the  exquisite 
verdancy  of  the  cane  fields  which  lie  along  this 
lovely  valley  and  cover  the  smooth  acclivities  of 
Monkey  Hill.  This  hill  is  the  southern  termina¬ 
tion  of  a  range  of  great  mountains  which  increase 
in  height  towards  the  north,  and  thicken  together  in 
enormous  masses  in  the  centre  of  the  island.  The 
apex  of  this  rude  pyramid  is  the  awful  crag  of  Mount 
Misery,  which  shoots  slantingly  forwards  over  the 
mouth  of  a  volcanic  chasm  like  a  huge  peninsula  in 
the  air.  It  is  bare  and  black  and  generally  visible, 
whilst  the  under  parts  of  the  mountain  are  envelop¬ 
ed  in  clouds.  The  height  is  more  than  3,700  feet, 
and  is  the  most  tremendous  precipice  I  ever  beheld. 
But  the  ruggedness  of  this  central  cluster  only  ten- 


188 


st.  Christopher’s. 


ders  the  contrast  of  the  cultivated  lands  below  more 
striking,  and  the  entire  prospect  is  so  charming,  that 
I  could  not  help  agreeing  with  the  captain’s  clerk 
who  said  he  wondered  that  Colon,  who  was  so  de¬ 
lighted  with  this  island  as  to  give  to  it  his  own  name, 
should  not  have  made  a  full  stop  upon  its  shores.  I 
do  not  uphold  the  pun,  but  upon  the  whole  it  was 
well  enough  for  a  hot  climate  and  a  captain’s  clerk. 

Basseterre  is  a  large  town,  with  many  good  houses 
in  it,  and  one  spacious  square,  which,  with  some 
labor  and  taste  expended  upon  it,  might  be  made  a 
very  fine  thing.  Trees  should  be  planted  regularly 
on  every  side,  an  esplanade  railed  off,  and  a  hand¬ 
some  stone  fountain  built  in  the  centre.  It  would 
be  worthy  of  Colonel  Maxwell  to  look  to  this,  and 
to  exert  his  influence  in  effecting  an  improvement 
not  less  important  for  its  utility  than  its  beauty.  It 
is  quite  extraordinary  that  the  W est  Indians  do  not 
pay  more  attention  to  their  comforts.  The  women, 
and  the  men  too  for  the  most  part,  never  stir  out 
while  the  sun  shines,  and  thus  become  much  more 
enervated  than  the  heat  of  the  climate  would  neces¬ 
sarily  make  them.  Why  is  there  not  a  sun-proof 
avenue  in  every  town,  where  people  might  breathe 
fresh  air  and  walk  in  the  shade  ?  Such  a  place  ot 
common  resort  would  infinitely  enliven  the  dullness 
of  their  society,  invigorate  their  spirits,  and  adorn 
their  towns.  Vegetation  is  so  very  rapid  within  the 
tropics  that  a  noble  arcade  of  trees  may  be  raised  in 


ST.  CHRISTOPHER  S. 


189 


a  few  years ;  an  alley  of  the  graceful  bamboo  might 
be  created  in  one  year,  which  might  serve  for  a  tem¬ 
porary  awning  till  the  larger  trees  were  grown.  The 
F rench  manage  all  these  things  much  better ;  they 
come  to  live  in  their  islands,  and  exert  all  their  in¬ 
genuity  and  knackery  in  making  them  comfortable 
homes.  In  Basseterre  in  Guadaloupe  there  is  such 
a  walk,  and  they  have  a  small  one  in  St.  Pierre.  In 
Port  of  Spain  they  have  their  Terreiro,  which  is  the 
original  or  copy  of  the  one  in  Funchal.  I  think  I 
have  heard  that  the  Madeirans  are  indebted  for  that 
agreeable  promenade  to  the  taste  and  generosity  of 
Sir  Ralph  Woodford. 

The  town  church  is  very  irregularly  built,  and 
cannot  contain  one  third  of  the  inhabitants.  True 
it  is  that  the  Methodists  have  kindly  stepped  in  and 
offered  their  assistance,  and,  in  order  to  demon¬ 
strate  their  affection  to  the  church,  have  erected 
their  conventicle  so  close  to  it,  that  the  voice  of  the 
clergyman  is  often  drowned  in  the  hearty  chorus 
which  proceeds  from  the  open  doors  &nd  windows 
of  the  great  house  over  the  way.  This  is  something 
inconvenient,  and  I  would  humbly  suggest  that  it 
might  be  avoided,  or  turned  to  a  good  account  by  a 
previous  agreement  between  the  two  parties  to  sing 
in  concert ;  and  it  might  be  stipulated,  that  in  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  acknowledged  precedence  of  the 
establishment,  and  also  of  the  hot  weather,  the  Me¬ 
thodists  should  only  sing  six  several  times  to  be  re- 
17* 


190 


st.  Christopher’s. 


turned  on  the  other  side  by  a  like  number  of  verses 
discharged  at  the  same  time  in  the  same  order.  The 
effect  of  this  harmonious  compact  would  be  very 
great,  and  might  possibly  be  the  means  of  softening 
the  asperities  and  levelling  the  angles  of  sectarian 
melody.  However  it  is  not  meant  hereby  to  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  notturnos,  a  species  of  music  which 
the  good  people  might  be  left  to  execute  in  their  own 
peculiar  way. 

The  present  rector  of  Basseterre,  Mr.  Davis,  a 
native  of  the  island,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 
preachers  in  the  West  Indies.  If  the  fervent  bold¬ 
ness  of  this  excellent  minister  were  more  common 
amongst  the  colonial  clergy,  a  greater  reformation 
of  the  public  mind  would  be  effected  than  it  will  be 
easy  to  bring  about  by  other  means.  He  is  but 
newly  instituted  to  this  living,  and  the  Bishop  has 
appointed  him  one  of  his  chaplains.  I  anticipate 
with  reason  the  most  beneficial  consequences  from 
hisa  zealous  ministry,  his  enlightened  superintend¬ 
ance,  and  his  very  general  influence. 

The  religious  establishment  of  St.  Kitt’s  is,  with 
perhaps  the  exception  of  Nevis,  relatively  the 
largest  of  any  in  the  Antilles.  Yet  there  are  only 
nine  churches  for  the  accommodation  of  about  30,- 
000  persons.  Some  of  these  are  really  very  large, 
and  almost  every  one  in  good  condition  and  fur¬ 
nished  with  great  neatness.  They  are  for  the  most 
part  situated  near  the  sea,  and  command  the  most 


ST.  CHRISTOPHER'S. 


191 


exquisite  prospects  on  all  sides.  They  are  lovely 
to  look  at  and  lovely  to  look  from.  On  the  north 
the  majestic  pyramid  of  St.  Eustatius  is  an  object 
of  ever  changing  and  ever  glorious  appearance,  and 
if  the  rector  of  St.  Mary  Cayonne  in  the  south  east 
is  not  a  happy  and  a  virtuous  man,  then  mountains 
and  valleys,  trees  and  running  streams,  the  blue 
ocean,  and  retirement  cannot  make  him  so. 

I  drove  and  rode  round  this  island  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  southern  extremity,  which  is  almost 
uninhabited,  being  full  of  large  salt  ponds  from 
which  a  great  quantity  of  that  useful  article  is  an¬ 
nually  procured.  The  roads  are  remarkably  good, 
and  present  the  only  instance  of  milestones  in  my 
experience  of  the  West  Indies.  There  are  one  or 
two  pretty  villages  on  the  coast,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  seemed  to  be  nearly  all  coloured  people. 
Some  of  the  women  were  very  handsome  and  well 
dressed.  The  fort  on  Brimstone  hill  is  a  very  im¬ 
posing  object;  it  is  situated  on  a  huge  rock  preci¬ 
pitous  on  all  sides  but  one,  backed  by  the  moun¬ 
tains  and  fronted  by  the  coast  level  and  the  western 
sea.  We  breakfasted  near  the  hill  with  a  worthy 
German  commissary  and  his  good  sister  Miss  Fer- 
venstein,  or  some  such  name,  for  I  am  ill  at  Ger¬ 
man  ;  she  was  born  in  Trieste,  and  could  spik  Ing- 
lis  like  any  nightingale.  Moreover  she  gave  us  an 
admirable  meal;  in  particular,  there  was  one  lucu- 
lent  dish  of  which  I  could  not  learn  the  name.  1 


192 


st.  Christopher’s. 


ate  largely  of  it  and  was  highly  satisfied  with  it ;  as 
far  as  I  could  guess  its  composition,  1  should  say  it 
was  guinea  fowls  cut  into  junks,  done  into  Mainte- 
non  cutlets  and  finally  enveloped  in  pastry.  Colo¬ 
nel  Maxwell  said  our  good  hostess  was  famous  for 
her  dish.  Certainly  by  travelling  in  foreign  coun¬ 
tries  a  man  acquires  an  enlarged  apprehension  of 
the  gifts  of  nature  and  of  the  ingenuity  of  man. 
Represent  to  a  Londoner  that  the  fore-arm  of  a 
young  monkey  is  tender  and  savory,  urge  the  rich¬ 
ness  of  guana,  or  illustrate  eel  by  snake,  and  it  is 
ten  to  one  that  you  spoil  his  dinner  for  that  day ; 
yet  verily  these  things  are  in  rerum  edibilium  natu- 
ra,  and  with  their  wholesome  cleanliness  might  well 
put  to  shame  the  cannibal  consumers  of  tripe  and 
sheep’s  trotters.  The  English  prejudice  for  beef- 
steaks  may  undoubtedly  be  defended  upon  certain 
grounds  of  political  economy ;  but  why,  dear 
brother  of  mine,  should  you  therefore  think  scorn 
of  the  froggeries  of  France,  the  crabberies  of  An¬ 
tigua,  or  the  monkey ries  of  Trinidad  ?  Within  cer¬ 
tain  bounds  (from  which  however  I  exclude  the 
crapauderies  of  Dominica,*  for  I  consider  it  deci¬ 
dedly  unchristian  to  eat  of  them)  my  maxim  is, 
gustus  neque  disputandi  neque  contemnendi  sunt. 

*  I  have  some  doubts  also  of  the  admissibility  of  the 
Groogroo  worms,  which  is  a  pastry  of  boiled  maggots 
picked  from  the  top,  I  believe,  of  a  short  prickly  species 
of  palm  of  that  name  in  Trinidad. — Cur .  adv.  vult. 


st.  Christopher’s. 


193 


I  was  particularly  struck  with  a  part  of  the  road 
near  Sandy  Point  where  there  was  a  complete 
grove  of  the  beautiful  and  singular  seaside  grape* 
for  the  space  of  half  a  mile  on  both  sides  of  the 
road.  Clusters  of  the  fruit,  which  is  something  be¬ 
tween  a  gooseberry  and  a  golden  pippin,  were  hang¬ 
ing  from  every  branch  amongst  the  large  round 
leaves ;  they  were  then  yellow,  but  ripen  into  a 
darker  colour.  In  Antigua  some  good  Moravian 
women  made  us  an  enormous  tart  of  these  grapes ; 
it  was  the  best  piece  of  Moravian  work  I  have  ever 
seen.  It  equalled  fresh  gooseberries,  which  secun¬ 
dum  subjectam  materiam  is  as  much  as  can  be  said 
for  any  mortal  fruit  pie.  I  must  mention  also  a 
magnificent  avenue  of  cabbage  treesf  in  double 
rows  which  led  to  some  lady’s  house  on  the  wind¬ 
ward  side  of  the  island ;  I  forget  her  name,  but  we 
all  agreed  that  it  was  the  finest  display  of  these 
tufted  princes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  these  liv¬ 
ing  Corinthian  columns,  that  could  be  found  any 
where  in  the  Antilles.  Ligon  declares  that  in  Bar¬ 
bados  in  his  time  about  1645,  there  were  many  of 
these  trees  which  measured  upwards  of  300  feet  in 
height ;  which  declaration  I  will  be  so  bold  as  to 
say  was  a  gigantic  lie  of  the  worthy  old  planter’s 
own  in  spite  of  all  his  arithmetic.  After  many  in- 

*  I  believe  the  coccoloba  uvifera, 

t  Areca  oleracea. 


194 


st.  Christopher’s. 


quiries  in  various  islands,  I  could  find  no  one  who 
would  answer  for  more  than  120  or,  at  the  utmost, 
130  feet,  and  of  that  height  I  have  frequently  seen 
them.  And  this  is  taking  the  matter  favourably 
for  Ligon.  Barbados  was  then  for  the  most  part 
covered  with  wood,  and  the  trees,  of  which  he 
speaks,  were  growing  in  the  midst  of  it ;  now  I 
have  always  remarked  that  the  palm  in  a  forest  is 
much  shorter  and  slenderer  than  when  it  springs  up 
by  itself  or  in  regular  and  open  rows.  Not  but 
that  Ligon  had  a  perfect  right  to  tell  the  lie,  seeing 
it  was  only  within  a  few  years  that  the  gentry  of 
Guiana  had  discontinued  that  barbarous  fashion  of 
wearing  their  heads  under  their  arms  and  their  eye 
in  the  middle  of  their  breasts.  For  all  which  a 
better  man  than  Ligon  had  pledged  his  reputation. 

But  as  we  went  round  the  island,  though  my  eyes 
often  wandered  over  the  sea  and  through  the  trees, 
yet  did  they  always  return  at  short  intervals,  and 
fix  themselves  upon  the  sullen  skyward  fragment 
of  the  Mountain  of  Misery.  I  passed  entirely 
round  its  base  and  saw  it  from  various  points  of 
view  ;  it  changed  under  the  shifting  clouds  from 
black  to  pale,  and  seemed  to  be  impatient  of  fix¬ 
ture,  and  to  be  straining  forward  to  dash  itself  to 
atoms  in  the  chasm  below.  What  a  place  for 
Timon  to  have  chosen  in  his  misanthropy !  Truly 
the  philosophers  would  have  had  good  need  of  cry¬ 
ing  out  to  him,  M^  fictXke,  w  Tfaw  (xVifxsv  yap.  He 


st.  Christopher’s.  195 

might  have  settled  all  the  schools  in  Athens  or 
Basseterre  either  by  a  kick  of  his  foot. 

I  believe  I  have  reason  to  say  that  there  is  no 
colony,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  Grenada, 
where  the  free-coloured  people  are  treated  with 
so  much  justice  as  in  St.  Kitt’s.  There  are  in¬ 
stances  here  of  respectable  white  and  coloured 
persons  intermarrying,  which  is  a  conquest  over 
the  last  and  most  natural  of  all  prejudices.  The 
only  newspaper  in  the  island  is  conducted  by  a 
coloured  man,  and  what  is  more,  as  well  conducted 
as  any  other  in  the  West  Indies.  Their  oaths 
as  witnesses  they  have  long  possessed.  I  believe, 
but  I  am  not  certain,  that  they  vote  indiscrimi¬ 
nately  with  the  whites  in  the  election  of  members 
for  the  General  Assembly.  I  received  the  Sacra¬ 
ment  myself  after  a  black  woman,  and  the  odious 
custom  of  burying  them  and  the  slaves  in  a  de¬ 
tached  piece  of  ground  is  not  common,  and  where 
it  did  exist  a  little  while  ago  I  believe  it  has  been 
since  abolished  at  the  earnest  instances  of  the 
worthy  Bishop. 

The  Moravians  are  numerous  and  have  many 
establishments  in  the  island.  They  labour,  in  still¬ 
ness,  as  they  say  of  themselves,  and  are,  I  really 
believe,  a  good  and  innoxious  class  of  people ;  at 
the  same  time  the  United  Brethren  near  St.  Mary 
Cayonne  ought  to  look  more  sharply  after  the 
manners  of  their  females.  There  were  ten  or  a 


196  st.  Christopher’s. 

dozen  mulatto  women  entirely  undressed  and  wash¬ 
ing  their  clothes  in  a  brook  of  water  not  twenty 
yards  from  the  high  road  in  this  parish.  Whether 
from  innocence  or  impudence  I  cannot  say,  but 
certainly  they  paid  no  more  attention  to  our  party 
than  if  we  had  been  so  many  posts.  However 
this  is  a  solitary  instance  in  my  experience  of  the 
West  Indies. 

The  same  practice  of  paying  the  clergymen  in 
sugar  has  hitherto  prevailed  here  as  in  Nevis,  but 
I  hope  it  is  now  or  will  shortly  be  abandoned  for  a 
more  decent  and  effectual  stipend.  The  sincere 
and  active  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  the  West  In¬ 
dies  is  a  most  meritorious  man  ;  he  is  the  living 
source  of  intelligence  and  good  order  to  every 
class  of  people  in  his  neighbourhood,  and  to  him, 
animated  and  strengthened,  as  he  now  is,  by  the 
exhortations,  example  and  protection  of  the  Bishop 
of  the  diocese,  do  I  principally  look  for  a  substan¬ 
tial  advancement  in  the  morals,  knowledge,  and 
relative  behaviour  of  white  and  coloured,  of  bond 
and  free.  The  planter  is  as  much  interested  in 
the  abilities  and  virtues  of  the  minister  of  his 
parish  as  his  own  slaves  can  possibly  be ;  and  it 
does  really  become  him  now  to  give  up  that  petty 
tyranny,  which  has  been  hitherto  exercised  over 
the  colonial  clergymen,  and  to  rescue  them  from 
that  dependence  on  vestries,  churchwardens  and 
others,  which  is  destructive  of  the  utility  of  one 


st.  Christopher’s. 


197 


parly  and  degrading  to  the  characters  of  both. 
The  money  that  is  spent  in  the  liberal  mainte¬ 
nance  of  a  competent  number  of  well-educated 
ministers  on  each  island  is  money  laid  out  to  great 
advantage ;  the  security  is  good,  and  the  returns 
will  be  a  hundredfold. 

The  first  night  of  being  in  St.  Kitt’s  I  lodged 
at  a  place  called  the  Camp,  and  slept  for  half  an 
hour  in  a  bed  without  a  curtain.  In  this  space 
of  time  I  was  bitten  almost  into  a  fever  by  mosqui¬ 
tos  of  prodigious  size  and  famished  ferocity.  The 
air  was  impregnated  with  these  infernal  animals, 
and  a  white  servant,  who  slept  on  the  stairs  outside 
my  room,  awoke  in  the  morning  with  both  his  eyes 
almost  sewed  up.  Colonel  Maxwell  was  merciful 
enough  to  give  me  a  bed  in  his  house  for  the  rest  of 
my  stay,  but  I  did  not  recover  from  the  effects  of 
this  unparalleled  attack  of  Beelzebub  for  a  week. 

There  i3  a  spot  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  the  name  of 
which  I  forget,  in  returning  from  St.  Mary  Cayonne, 
from  which  the  vale  of  Basseterre  may  be  viewed 
with  the  greatest  advantage.  I  think  there  is  no 
place  on  earth  which  can  surpass  the  richness  and 
cultivated  beauty  of  this  lovely  scene.  Nothing 
can  be  better  disposed  for  completing  the  effect  than 
the  plantations  are;  the  tall  and  moving  windmills, 
the  houses  of  the  proprietors,  the  works  and  palm* 
thatched  cottages  of  the  negros  embosomed  in  plan¬ 
tains,  present  the  appearance,  as  indeed  they  are 
1C 


198 


st.  Christopher’s. 


the  substance,  of  so  many  country  villages  in  Eng¬ 
land.  On  one  side  is  Basseterre  with  the  ships,  on 
the  other  the  ocean  to  windward,  the  mountains  be¬ 
hind,  in  front  the  broken  and  peninsular  termina¬ 
tion  of  the  island  to  the  south,  the  salt  lakes  gleam¬ 
ing  between  the  openings  of  the  rocks,  and  Nevis 
towering  majestically  over  all. 

I  agree  with  Don  Christoval ;  this  island  does 
deserve  to  bear  the  name  of  as  great  a  man  as  ever 
the  old  world  had  reason  to  be  proud  of.  If  he  con¬ 
sidered  it  so  beautiful  ere  the  hand  of  human  indus¬ 
try  had  levelled  the  thickets  and  cast  seed  into  the 
soil,  what  would  the  Admiral  say  of  his  namesake 
now,  when  with  all  its  natural  charms  undiminish¬ 
ed,  it  is  breathing,  as  I  verily  believe,  with  a  con¬ 
tented  and  even  happy  population,  and  smiling 
throughout  its  valleys  with  the  green  harvests  of  the 
torrid  zone  ?  That  there  are  divers  particulars 
which  an  European  philanthropist  would  wish  to 
see  reformed  or  removed  altogether,  is  certainly 
true  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  a  majority  of  the  plant¬ 
ers  are  gentlemen  of  understanding  and  humanity, 
and  prove  by  their  acts,  private  and  public,  and  their 
conversation,  that  they  are  sincerely  willing  to  pro¬ 
mote  the  true  welfare  of  every  class  in  their  com¬ 
munity  by  all  the  means  within  their  power.  The 
governor,  I  know,  and  the  legislature,  I  think,  are 
both  actuated  by  principles  of  real  liberality  towards 
the  colored  part  of  the  population  ;  an  act  has  been 


st.  Christopher’s. 


199 


promptly  and  unanimously  passed  to  invest  the 
Bishop  with  full  powers,  and  I  am  convinced  that 
there  is  no  amendment,  no  change,  no  practical 
measure  of  any  sort  which  could  be  suggested  by 
him,  which  would  not  be  carried  into  immediate 
effect  to  the  utmost  of  their  political  or  private 
power. 

I  exceedingly  regret  that  I  had  not  time  to  visit  a 
very  remarkable  level  in  the  midst  of  the  mountains, 
which  appears  to  be  similar  in  its  character  to  the 
plains  between  the  Cordilleras  of  upper  Peru.  Most 
of  the  common  vegetables  of  Europe  will  grow 
there,  and  the  face  of  the  country,  I  am  told,  is  totally 
different  from  what  it  is  in  the  lowland  valleys. 

Under  this  government  are  comprised  Nevis, 
Anguilla  and  the  British  Virgin  Islands.  The  first 
is  naturally  attached  to  St.  Christopher’s,  but  the 
two  latter  are  at  a  very  inconvenient  distance  from 
it  and  from  each  other.  After  Trinidad,  I  should 
prefer  this  government  to  any  other  in  the  Antilles  5 
but  a  man  ought  to  have  a  good  independent  fortune 
to  live  comfortably  in  these  places.  I  would  no 
more  submit  to  be  kept  on  board  wages  by  any  of 
their  Assemblies  than  I  would  to  stand  court  can¬ 
didate  for  Westminster.  In  Tobago  they  have  the 
unexampled  effrontery  to  deduct  so  much  per  diem 
from  their  governor’s  salary  for  his  occasional  ab¬ 
sence  from  the  island  on  military  duty  :  for  which 
no  doubt,  among  other  causes,  they  are  pre-eminent- 


200 


st.  Christopher’s. 


ly  blessed  with  yellow  fevers  and  dry  belly-aches. 
Tobago  is  a  fine  island ;  but  really  the  planters 
ought  to  behave  with  more  liberality  ;  and  let  them 
remember  this  . . .  the  worse  they  pay,  the  worse 
they  will  have  . . .  and  there  is  an  end  of  the  matter. 


ANGUILLA. 


On  Wednesday  afternoon  we  re-embarked  and 
steered  for  Anguilla.  It  was  the  glorious  first  of 
June,  and  we  all  drank  to  the  memory  of  Lord 
Howe,  as  in  naval  duty  bound.  We  passed  between 
St.  Eustatius  and  Saba,  both  of  them  Dutch  islands. 
They  rise  out  of  the  sea  in  majestic  cones,  but,  like 
Nevis,  fall  away  on  their  north  sides  into  a  broken 
level.  We  were  within  a  mile  of  the  town  in  St. 
Eustatius,  which  seemed  large  and  divided  into  an 
upper  and  lower  range  of  houses  ;. .  .few  ships  were 
within  the  bay  which  is  a  commodious  one,  and  the 
colony  is  said  never  to  have  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  capture  by  Lord  Rodney  in  1781.  I 
am  afraid  that  the  scandalous  manner  in  which  this 
island  was  lost  a  short  time  afterwards  to  a  handfuil 
of  French  soldiers  was  only  a  just  punishment  for 
the  unworthy  severities  before  exercised  by  the 
captors.  Plunder  generally  burns  the  fingers  of 
those  who  are  concerned  in  it.  We  sailed  the 
whole  length  of  St.  Bartholomew’s  or  St.  Bart’s,  as 
it  is  commonly  called,  and  just  looked  into  the  har¬ 
bour  of  Gustavia,  which  is  difficult  of  access,  but 
18* 


202 


ANGUILLA. 


otherwise  a  very  fine  one.  This  belongs  to  the 
Swedes  and  is,  I  believe,  the  only  colony  they  pos¬ 
sess.  It  is  a  long  uneven  island  without  that  cen¬ 
tral  rising  which  is  almost  universal  in  the  other 
islands,  and  which  seems  to  indicate  volcanic  action. 
Barbados  indeed  is  an  exception.  After  St.  Bar¬ 
tholomew’s,  we  coasted  along  St.  Martin’s  which  is 
divided  between  the  Dutch  and  the  French,  and  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  2d  of  June  we  came  abreast  of 
the  low  and  level  shores  of  Anguilla. 

Shorten  sail,  sound  starboard  and  larboard,  and 
be  very  careful  in  going  into  the  road  of  this  island. 
The  Dutch  chart  is  imperfect.  We  anchored  a 
little  way  from  a  sand  bank  not  five  feet  under 
water,  where  the  chart  gave  five  fathoms.  You 
might  run  upon  Sandy  island  itself  by  night  without 
seeing  it  three  minutes  before.  I  must  say  it  seems 
to  me  that  it  would  be  more  creditable  to  the  great¬ 
est  maritime  power  on  earth  to  ascertain  something 
certain  of  the  navigation  of  its  own  Caribbean  sea 
by  a  scientific  survey  than  to  reprint  the  old  Spanish 
maps,  and  when  they  fail,  to  send  its  officers  to  pick 
up  informatian,  as  they  may,  from  an  unintelligible 
chart  of  Samuel  Fahlberg.  The  French  manage 
these  things  better,  much  better.* 

*  In  one  of  the  charts  of  the  Gulf  of  Paria  you  see 
“  breakers”  here,  “  breakers”  there,  “  breakers”  every¬ 
where,  the  water  being  always  as  smooth  as  a  mill  pond. 


ANGUILLA* 


203 


Anguilla  presents  a  very  singular  appearance  for 
a  West  Indian  island.  A  little  wall  of  cliff  of  some 
forty  feet  in  height  generally  rises  from  the  beach, 
and  when  you  have  mounted  this,  the  whole  country 
lies  before  you  gently  sloping  inwards  in  a  concave 
form,  and  sliding  away,  as  it  were,  to  the  south  where 
the  land  is  only  just  above  the  level  of  the  sea* 
The  Flat  island  and  St.  Martin’s  terminate  the  view 
in  this  direction.  Seven  tenths  of  the  country  are 
entirely  uncultivated ;  in  some  parts  a  few  coppi¬ 
ces,  but  more  commonly  a  pretty  species  of  myrtle 
called  by  the  negros  maiden  berry,  seem  to  cover 
the  whole  soil;  the  roads  are  level  grassy  tracks 
over  which  it  is  most  delightful  to  ride,  and  the 
houses  and  huts  of  the  inhabitants  are  scattered 
about  in  so  picturesque  a  manner  that  I  was  put  in 
mind  of  many  similar  scenes  in  Kent  and  Devon¬ 
shire.  Indeed  there  were  scarcely  any  of  the  usual 
features  of  West  Indian  scenery  visible  ;  neither  of 
those  prominent  ones,  the  lively  windmill  or  the 
columnar  palm,  was  to  be  seen,  and  there  was  a 
rusticity,  a  pastoral  character  on  the  face  of  the 
land,  its  roads  and  its  vegetation,  which  is  the 
exact  antipode  of  large  plantations  of  sugar.  1 

Their  history  is  this.  In  the  Spanish  chart  the  sound¬ 
ings  are  marked  by  braqas ,  fathoms  ;  hence  our  afore¬ 
said  “  breakers,”  for  which  at  least  the  translator’s  head 
ought  to  have  been  broken. 


204 


ANGUILLA. 


believe  I  did  see  one  dwarf  cocoanut  tree,  but  it 
looked  miserable  and  unhappy,  and  was  evidently 
out  of  its  element. 

I  had  great  fun  with  a  parcel  of  laughing,  lazy, 
good  for  nothing  women  who  were  assembled  in 
the  evening  on  a  grassy  space  where  four  tracks  met, 
for  the  purposes  of  talking  at  all  events  as  much  as 
possible,  and  then  of  drawing  water  at  the  public 
well.  This  well  had  no  wheel  attached  to  it  for 
facilitating  the  drawing  up  of  the  water  ;  the  wo¬ 
men  let  down  a  bucket  then  began  to  laugh,  then 
dragged  away  at  their  bucket  by  main  force,  then 
showed  their  teeth  again,  then  dragged  away  again, 
and  after  five  or  six  alternations  of  laughing  and  quar¬ 
relling,  dragging  and  screaming,  they  secured  about 
one  bucket  full  of  water;  the  rest  of  course  being 
spilt  by  the  vessel  striking  against  the  sides  of  the 
well.  Their  ropes  too  were  quickly  frayed  by  the 
friction  against  the  edge,  and,  I  should  think,  could 
never  last  more  than  a  fortnight  in  constant  use. 
We  offered  to  send  a  carpenter  and  some  men  from 
the  ship  to  construct  a  windlass  for  them,  if  any 
timber  could  be  found,  for  all  which  about  three 
hundred  teeth  grinned  upon  us  very  graciously. 
However  our  benevolent  intention  had  no  effect, 
for  although,  upon  application  to  the  lieutenant 
governor,  his  Honor  was  pleased  to  promise  suffi¬ 
cient  wood  for  the  purpose,  yet,  upon  the  most  dili¬ 
gent  search  being  made  throughout  the  vicinage. 


ANGUILLA. 


205 


the  returning  officer  certified  that  there  was  no  such 
timber  to  be  found  5  and  so  the  Anguillan  damsels 
must  be  fain  to  draw  their  water  as  aforetime,  un¬ 
less  and  until  His  Majesty,  in  conformity  with  his 
other  wholesome  provisions  for  the  reformation  of 
the  interior  economy  of  this  unconquered,  and. 
as  the  Honorable  Benjamin  Gumbs  added,  uncon¬ 
querable  colony,  shall  order  the  collector  of  his  cus¬ 
toms  at  Old  Road  to  import  one  tree,  pitch  pine  or 
other  as  shall  seem  expedient,  to  be  devoted  to  the 
single  object  of  constituting  a  wheel  or  windlass  for 
the  said  well,  and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  what¬ 
soever.  It  may  be  as  well  to  mention  too  that  the 
colonial  flag  has  been  long  since  worn  out ;  the 
staff  remains  before  the  government  house,  but 
Union,  Standard  or  St.  George  is  there  none.  To 
be  sure,  as  the  Honourable  Benjamin  Gumbs  re¬ 
marked,  it  matters  little ;  “  for  no  enemy,  sir,  will 
ever  penetrate  into  this  country  to  see  whether  we 
have  a  flag  or  not which  is  probably  true. 

The  lieutenant  governor  received  us  with  marked 
distinction  on  the  steps  of  his  house.  He  is  an  old 
man  venerable  for  his  white  hairs,  sore  eyes  and 
lack  of  teeth;  affluent  in  the  undoubted  possession 
of  two  coats  and  one  dimity  waistcoat  with  regiment¬ 
al  buttons  attached  to  them.  His  hospitality  was 
as  sincere  as  his  entertainment  was  spare  ;  wine, 
poor  soul !  he  had  none,  and  rum  we  could  not 
drink,  but  there  was  water,  and  as  much  as  we 


206 


ANGUILLA. 


liked  of  it  from  the  aforesaid  well.  But  the  frost 
of  age  melted  away  when  the  glorious  deeds  of  An¬ 
guilla  were  mentioned  ;  how  the  old  warrior  reared 
himself  up  on  his  chair !  how  he  girded  his  loins 
and  took  up  his  parable !  “  1  told  the  men,  i’ll  tell 
ye  what,  I  know  nothing  about  marching  and  coun¬ 
termarching,  but  my  advice  to  you  is  to  wait  till  the 
enemy  comes  close,  and  then  fire  and  load  and  fire 
again  like  the  devil.”  Whereat  we  all  looked 
grave  as  was  proper;  but  his  Honor  was  sublime 
beyond  all  consideration  of  infernal  similes.  Victor 
Hugues  himself  would  have  trembled  to  beard  such 
a  soldier  in  his  den,  if  he  had  known  of  his  exist¬ 
ence. 

That  murderous  ruffian  never  did  any  thing  more 
wantonly  atrocious  than  ordering  the  attack  of  An¬ 
guilla  in  1796.  It  could  serve  no  warlike  or  colo¬ 
nial  purpose,  especially  as,  it  is  said,  his  instructions 
to  the  officers  were  to  exterminate  the  inhabitants. 
The  French  burnt  the  little  town,  pulled  down  the 
church,  stabbed  men  in  their  houses,  and  stripped 
women  of  their  clothes.  In  such  a  case  it  is  a  real 
satisfaction  to  know  that  punishment  followed  hard 
upon  the  crime.  Every  man  in  the  expedition  was 
afterwards  killed  or  taken  prisoner  by  the  Lapwing, 
and  the  two  French  ships  were  destroyed. 

The  council  presented  an  address  to  the  bishop, 
which  was  very  creditable  to  the  good  taste  and 
feeling  of  the  principal  people  of  this  unjustly  for- 


ANGUILLA. 


207 


gotten  colony.  Indeed  they  seem  a  good  sort  of 
folks,  though  they  have  been  living  for  a  long  time 
in  a  curious  state  of  suspended  civilization.  They 
acknowledge  the  English  laws,  but  the  climate  is 
said  to  induce  fits  of  drowsiness  on  them,  during 
which  Justice  sleepeth  and  Execution  tarrieth. 
These  periods  of  dormancy  are  occasional  and  arise 
from  no  very  definite  cause.  In  the  book  of  the 
deputy  provost  marshal,  after  recording  that  a  writ 
received  at  the  office  in  1809  was  executed  in  1818, 
it  is  thus  written — 

“  The  reason  the  above  execution  was  not  pre¬ 
viously  levied  is,  that  there  was  no  place  of  confine¬ 
ment,  and  that  the  laws  of  this  island  were  lying 
dormant  from  the  period  of  granting  the  writ  until 
instructions  were  received  by  the  lieutenant  govern¬ 
or  from  the  captain  general  to  proceed  in  execution 
of  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  island,  which  occur¬ 
rence  took  place  in  1818,  when  the  marshal  was  or¬ 
dered  to  do  his  duty,  and  made  this  attachment 
accordingly.” 

The  laws  having  awaked,  they  were  troubled  with 
such  an  immense  number  of  writs  again,  that  the 
poor  creatures  had  no  time  to  eat  or  to  drink  ; 
whereupon  after  a  few  months  wakefulness,  they 
became  dormant  again,  and  so  have  continued  for 
the  last  six  years.  In  1822  indeed  the  board  of 
council  formally  declared,  “  that  it  was  useless  to 
erect  themselves  into  a  court  of  judicature  for  want 
of  a  jail.” 


208 


ANGUILLA. 


- nullo  contentam  carcere  Romam  ! 

One  small  methodist  chapel  is  the  only  place  of 
religious  worship  in  Anguilla.  The  minister  is  a 
colored  man  w'ith  a  stipend  of  £200  per  annum 
from  the  Society  in  England,  and  is  consequently 
the  richest  man  in  the  island.  He  has  250  admitted 
members,  and  his  congregation  rarely  exceeds  400 
souls.  There  remains  therefore  about  2,600  human 
beings  without,  or  only  with  the  name  of  Christians. 
This  gentleman  has  been  eleven  years  in  his  situa¬ 
tion,  and  in  all  that  time  has  never  dreamed  of 
establishing  a  school  for  the  young.  The  serenity 
of  the  neighbourhood  was  disturbed  in  the  evening 
when  I  was  there,  by  the  worse  than  Popish  mum¬ 
mery  of  class  meetings  ;  the  young  women  and 
children  were  screaming  out  by  rote  some  hymns 
and  songs  with  an  asperity  and  discordance  of  tone 
which  seemed  to  make  nature  angry,  and  exhibiting 
a  scene  of  such  mechanical  superstition  and  sense¬ 
less  perversion  of  Christian  worship  as  might  well 
have  caused  a  wiser  man  than  me  to  weep  for  the 
possible  absurdities  of  mankind. 

But  brighter  prospects  are  opening  in  Anguilla. 
Its  state  has  been  thoroughly  examined  by  commis¬ 
sion  from  the  governor  of  St.  Kitt’s,  and  a  system  of 
reformation  in  consequence  undertaken.  The  An- 
guillians  now  send  a  representative  to  the  assembly 
of  St.  Kitt’s  and  the  island  is  to  be  bound  by  all 
laws  enacted  in  his  presence.  These  lawrs  axe  not 


ANGUILLA. 


209 


to  be  allowed  to  go  to  sleep  upon  any  pretence 
whatever.  A  court  is  to  be  erected  and  juries  im¬ 
panelled.  A  church  will  be  built  partly  by  govern¬ 
ment  and  partly  by  themselves,  and  a  clergyman 
and  catechist  will  reside  on  the  island  ;  one  or  two 
schools  are  to  be  opened  forthwith  under  proper 
masters,  and  the  colony  will  be  periodically  visited 
by  the  Archdeacon  of  Antigua,  and  the  Bishop  him¬ 
self. 

The  great  curiosity  of  Anguilla  is  the  salt  pond. 
This  is  a  shallow  lake  surrounded  by  little  hills, 
except  where  it  is  divided  from  the  sea  by  the  beach 
alone.  The  salt  forms  a  crust  on  the  clay  under 
water,  whence  it  is  scraped  off  and  laid  up  in  stacks 
on  the  shore,  which  being  thatched  with  branches 
of  the  tier  palm  present  at  first  sight  the  appearance 
of  an  Indian  village.  The  salt  which  I  saw  dug 
out  for  use  was  very  white,  strong,  and  beautifully 
crystallized.  This  pond  is  common  property, 
and  every  one  may  take  as  much  of  it  as  he  can 
get.  The  natives  talk  of  their  crop  of  salt,  as  plant¬ 
ers  do  of  their  canes,  or  as  we  should  do  of  our  corn. 
In  favourable  years  300,000  bushels  of  this  article 
have  been  exported.  If  the  poor  folks  had  a  free 
port,  they  might  get  on  tolerably  well.  Unrestrict¬ 
ed  commerce,  which  is  munificence  and  stimulus 
to  London  and  Liverpool,  would  be  charity  to  An¬ 
guilla. 


19 


210 


ANGUILLA. 


By  the  by  they  make  very  good  hats  here  from 
the  leaves  of  the  tier  palm,  the  smallest  and  most 
delicate  species  of  that  great  family  of  trees  which 
I  have  seen. 

There  are  365  whites,  327  free-coloured,  and 
2,383  slaves  in  Anguilla. 

The  colony  is  very  poor ;  an  inconsiderable  por¬ 
tion  of  it  is  cultivated,  and  that  with  so  little  capital 
that  much  improvement  in  the  present  state  of 
things  seems  improbable.  I  fear  the  slaves  suffer  a 
good  deal  from  want  of  certain  and  adequate  provi¬ 
sion,  and  the  mode  of  meeting  the  scarcity  by  giv¬ 
ing  them  one,  two  or  three  days  liberty  to  seek  it 
any  where  is  decidedly  an  aggravation  of  the  evil. 
This  time,  which  is  almost  always  devoted  by  them 
to  idleness  or  stealing,  should  be  employed  even 
compulsorily,  if  necessary,  in  the  planting  of  pro¬ 
vision  grounds  of  which  any  quantity  may  be  taken 
in,  and  of  any  quality.  As  it  is,  the  yams  of  An¬ 
guilla  are  well  known  for  their  excellence.  That  a 
population  of  three  thousand  persons  in  a  level  and 
fertile  island  of  greater  extent  than  Nevis  within 
the  tropics  should  suffer  from  a  deficiency  of  the 
means  of  subsistence,  is  a  case  of  such  very  gross 
mismanagement  as  seems  to  deserve  the  punishment 
which  it  certainly  induces.  The  white  inhabitants 
are  much  in  debt  to  their  neighbours  of  St.  Mar¬ 
tin’s  and  St.  Bartholomew’s ;  and  though  their  dis¬ 
tress  has  not  destroyed  their  good  feelings  and 


ANGUILLA. 


211 


wishes  for  improvement,  yet  it  has  necessarily  ren¬ 
dered  them  more  neglectful  of  the  welfare  of  their 
dependents  than  their  brethren  under  happier  cir¬ 
cumstances  are  usually  found  to  be. 

I  am  told  indeed  that  Mr.  Buxton,  a  good  man 
but,  unfortunately  for  his  own  true  fame  and  the  in¬ 
terests  of  all  parties  concerned,  very  imperfectly 
informed  of  the  actual  state  of  things  in  the  West 
Indies,  has  said  in  substance,  that  he  wished  the  af¬ 
fairs  of  the  planters  were  even  more  embarrassed 
than  they  are,  because,  if  sugar  or  other  staple  were 
not  worth  the  growing,  the  slaves  would  necessarily 
have  less  work,  and  so  live  a  trifle  more  comfortably. 
Now  this  seems  to  me  a  simple  speech;  a  very 
small  quantity  of  political  or  even  domestic  econo¬ 
my  might  have  taught  a  man  of  so  much  sense  bet¬ 
ter.  Without  crossing  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  in  F ree- 
mason’s  Hall  itself,  (and  it  is  not  easy  to  remove 
oneself  farther  from  light  of  every  description,)  a 
person  might  have  reasoned,  that  if  the  planters, 
being,  as  they  are  written  down  in  the  Reports  of 
the  African  Institution,  a  cruel  and  selfish  race  of 
men,  could  no  longer  feed  themselves,  their  wives 
and  their  children  in  the  manner  they  were  wont, 
they  would  be  little  likely  to  take  much  trouble 
about  feeding  their  despised  slaves  at  all.  If  the 
slaves  were  rendered  useless,  they  would  not  and 
could  not  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  their 
masters ;  and  if  they  were  not  so  maintained,  the 


212 


ANGUILLA. 


slaves  would  of  course  maintain  themselves  by 
open  violence.  Now  if  any  one  wishes  this  last  to 
be  the  case,  I  will  be  bold  enough  to  say  that  he 
wishes  in  reality  not  only  the  entire  destruction  of 
the  colonies  as  sources  of  commerce,  but  also  the 
demolition  of  every  imaginable  chance  of  ultimately 
converting  the  slaves  into  good  citizens  and  enlight¬ 
ened  men. 

But  if  Mr.  Buxton,  as  a  great  and  heroic  act  of 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  humanity,  would  go  across 
this  ocean  stream  and  see  what  he  is  so  often  talk¬ 
ing  about,  (and  upon  my  word  I  believe  the  planters 
would  receive  him  with  civility,)  he  would  then 
know,  as  a  fact  about  which  there  could  be  no  dis¬ 
pute,  that  the  condition  of  a  slave  in  the  West  In¬ 
dies  bears  in  its  comparative  comforts  or  sufferings 
a  pretty  exact  relation  to  the  independence  or  indi¬ 
gence  of  his  master.  This  in  its  appropriate  de¬ 
gree  is  certainly  the  case  in  England,  and  really  I 
cannot  understand  why  any  body  should  suppose  it 
to  be  different  in  the  colonies.  It  is  not  my  hu¬ 
mour  to  fill  this  page  with  a  detailed  account  of  the 
management  of  slaves  on  an  estate ;  it  may  all  be 
found  in  Macdonnell  or  Macqueen,  and  it  is  just  as 
much  a  matter  of  course  as  poor  rates  and  a  parish 
doctor  in  England.  If  any  one  can  deny  this  to  be 
the  general  and  accustomed  practice,  let  him  do  so, 
and  distinctly  prove  his  assertion  ;  if  he  can  do  this, 
he  will  effectually  put  the  West  Indians  to  silence; 


ANGUILLA. 


213 


if  he  cannot  make  it  good,  then,  as  an  honest  man, 
he  will  never  repeat  such  assertion,  never  argue 
upon  such  assertion,  nay,  will  gainsay  those  who 
continue  to  do  either.  This  is  a  point  unconnected 
with  the  grand  question  of  slavery  in  the  abstract ; 
there  are  many  evils  in  that  state  more  pernicious 
than  short  commons,  but  this  is  a  topic  which  is 
infinitely  harangued  upon  and  usually  makes  the 
deepest  impression. 

That  there  are  degrees  in  slavery  is  true;  the 
different  education  and  more  different  tempers  of 
the  masters  will  operate  in  various  ways  upon  the 
condition  of  the  slaves,  and  between  the  highest 
and  the  lowest  stage  there  will  be  often  a  greater 
space  than  between  freedom  and  some  states  of 
slavery  itself.  The  weil  dressed  lady’s  maid  or 
gentleman’s  butler  and  groom  seem  scarcely  be¬ 
neath  the  same  classes  of  people  in  England ;  they 
receive  no  wages  indeed,  and  cannot  leave  their 
service ;  but  it  must  be  recollected  that  they  enjoy 
under  their  master’s  protection  almost  every  thing 
which  they  could  buy  with  money,  and  that  their 
country  is  so  small,  and  society  so  uniform  in  it, 
that  the  wish  to  see  the  unknown  world  and  to  try 
other  services,  which  would  render  such  a  restric¬ 
tion  tormenting  in  England  or  France,  can  affect 
their  contentment  in  a  very  slight  degree.  The 
other  extreme  of  servitude  comprises  the  slaves 
belonging  to  the  petty  land  proprietors,  and  the 
19* 


214 


ANGUILLA. 


white  and  coloured  tradesmen,  mechanics  and 
keepers  of  hotels  in  the  towns.  The  servi  servo- 
rum,  the  slaves  of  slaves  occur  so  rarely  as  not  to 
be  worth  taking  into  the  account,  except  for  the 
purpose  of  instancing  a  curious  right  of  slavery, 
and  of  reprobating  its  allowance.  1  am  far  from 
meaning  to  condemn  all  these  classes  of  masters 
by  wholesale  ;  it  often  happens,  I  am  told,  that 
they  are  even  too  indulgent,  and  admit  their  slaves 
to  a  familiarity  which  can  do  no  good  to  either 
party ;  but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  only  cases 
of  cruelty,  which  I  either  met  with  or  heard  of  in 
the  West  Indies,  were  one  and  all  perpetrated  by 
persons  of  this  description.  As  the  owners  live 
worse,  the  slaves  must  of  necessity  live  worse  also  ; 
as  their  owners  are  less  enlightened,  less  affected 
by  public  opinion,  nay,  oftentimes  as  barbarous  or 
even  more  so  than  themselves,  they  the  slaves  must 
of  course  profit  less  under  the  instruction,  and  be 
more  completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  passions  of 
such  their  masters. 

These  are  the  two  extremes ;  the  average  con¬ 
dition  is  that  of  the  labourers  in  the  field  upon 
respectable  estates.  These  constitute  seven  or 
eight  tenths  of  the  whole  slave  population.  In 
point  of  ease  and  shade  their  life  is  much  inferior 
to  that  of  the  planter’s  domestic  ;  in  food,  care  in 
sickness,  instruction  and  regular  protection,  they 
are  incomparably  better  off  than  the  wretched 


ANGUILLA. 


215 


thralls  of  the  low  inhabitants  of  the  towns.  The 
positive  amount  of  their  rights  and  privileges  is, 
as  I  have  occasionally  remarked,  various  in  various 
islands ;  in  none  is  it  greater,  in  few  so  great  as 
in  Barbados.  There  are  many  things  in  the  slave 
management  of  that  colony,  which  might  be  ad¬ 
vantageously  imitated  by  the  planters  of  other 
islands,  but  at  the  same  time  this  is  a  matter 
which  depends  so  much  upon  local  circumstances 
that  it  would  be  presumptuous  in  any  one  to  con¬ 
demn,  upon  general  principles  alone,  those  who 
do  not  avail  themselves  of  the  example. 


ANTIGUA. 


The  Eden  was  under  weigh  at  two  p.  m.,  on 
the  3d  of  June.  We  ran  back  the  same  course 
to  leeward  of  St.  Martin’s  and  St.  Bartholomew’s, 
and  beat  out  to  windward  of  St.  Eustatius  with 
the  wind  E.  S.  E.  It  was  hard  work  the  whole 
way  to  English  Harbour,  where  we  arrived  on 
Monday  evening  the  6th  a  little  before  sunset. 
We  should  not  have  managed  the  matter  as  it  was, 
if  we  had  not  carried  on  in  spite  of  a  succussion  of 
sharp  squalls  which  made  our  royal  masts  bend 
like  weeping  willows.  The  entrance  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  narrow,  and  every  preparation  was  made  to 
moor  the  ship  in  the  event  of  the  wind  baffling 
her.  An  attempt  to  tack  would  infallibly  run  a 
vessel  ashore.  However  we  glided  in  gently  to 
our  birth  between  the  two  quays  of  the  dockyard, 
and  fastened  the  ship  by  hawsers  to  rings  on  the 
shore  on  either  side. 

This  is  without  exception  the  prettiest  little 
harbour  I  ever  saw;  the  extreme  neatness  of  the 
docks,  the  busy  village  which  has  grown  up  in 
their  vicinity,  the  range  of  hills  of  various  shapes 


ANTIGUA. 


217 


and  colors  which  encircles  the  inland  sides,  and  the 
rocky  Ridge  which  frowns  over  the  mouth  with  its 
Union  and  cannons  and  ramparts,  present  such  a 
combination  of  tropical  beauty  and  English  style 
and  spirit  as  I  never  saw  elsewhere  in  the  West  In¬ 
dies.  The  harbour  is  said  to  be  unhealthy,  and 
from  its  inclosed  situation  such  a  circumstance 
seems  probable  ;  at  the  same  time  I  have  not  heard 
of  any  instance  in  which  the  crews  of  ships  have 
materially  suffered  during  their  stay  there.  Indeed 
it  is  a  season  of  great  merriment  with  them  ;  they 
live  on  shore,  and  after  their  regular  dock  labour, 
dance  and  sing  all  the  evening  to  their  own  abundant 
content.  The  officers  have  a  large  and  commodi¬ 
ous  barrack  to  themselves,  and  in  most  cases  find  it 
a  very  agreeable  place  of  relaxation  from  the  wretch¬ 
ed  confinement  on  board  ship  in  this  perspiring  cli¬ 
mate.  St.  John’s,  the  capital  of  Antigua,  lies  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  island,  and  this  distance,  which 
is  perhaps  a  little  annoying  to  the  more  urban  part 
of  the  lieutenants  and  midshipmen,  is  an  excellent 
quality  in  the  harbour  with  regard  to  the  common 
sailors.  There  is  a  devil  in  the  West  Indies  called 
New  Rum,  which  has  killed  almost  as  many  stout 
tars  as  the  French  have,  and  he  looks  so  like  an 
angel  of  light  in  Jack’s  eyes,  that  it  is  not  in  the 
poor  fellow’s  heart  to  refuse  him  any  thing. 

I  was  very  pleasantly  surprised  with  the  look  of 
the  country.  Antigua  is  so  generally  spoken  of  as  a 


218 


ANTIGUA. 


dry  and  a  dust  place  where  the  earth  refuses  to  yield 
water  for  the  use  of  man,  that  I  received  more  than 
ordinary  pleasure  in  gazing  on  the  gentle  wooded 
hills  and  green  meadow  vales  which  decorate  the 
interior  of  the  island,  Antigua  on  a  larger  scale  is 
formed  like  Anguilla,  that  is,  without  any  central 
eminences,  but  for  the  most  part  ramparted  around 
by  very  magnificent  cliffs,  which  slope  inwards  in 
gradual  declivities.  From  some  of  these  rocks, 
especially  near  the  parsonage  of  St.  Philip’s  parish, 
one  of  the  finest  panoramic  views  in  the  world  may 
be  obtained.  The  whole  island,  which  is  of  a 
rough  circular  figure,  lies  in  sight;  the  grand  forti¬ 
fications  on  the  Ridge  and  Monk’s  Hill  silently  me¬ 
nace  the  subject  fields;  St.  John’s  rises  distinctly 
with  its  church  on  the  north-western  horizon,  whilst 
the  woods  which  cover  the  sides  and  crest  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  Figtree  Hill  just  break  the  continuity  of  sea 
in  the  south-west.  The  heart  of  the  island  is  ver¬ 
dant  with  an  abundant  pasturage  or  grassy  down, 
and  the  numerous  houses  of  the  planters,  embosom¬ 
ed  in  trees,  have  more  of  the  appearance  of  coun¬ 
try  mansions  in  England  than  almost  any  others  in 
the  West  Indies.  The  shores  are  indented  in  every 
direction  with  creeks  and  bays  and  coves,  some  of 
them  running  into  the  centre  of  the  plantations  like 
canals,  some  swelling  into  estuaries,  and  others 
forming  spacious  harbours.  Beyond  these,  an  in¬ 
finite  variety  of  islands  and  islets  stud  the  bosom  of 


ANTIGUA. 


219 


the  blue  sea,  and  stand  out  like  so  many  advanced 
posts  of  defence  against  the  invading  waves.  They 
are  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  and  are  given  up  to  the 
rearing  of  provisions  and  the  maintenance  of  a  great 
number  of  cattle.  From  the  same  hill  when  the 
western  sky  is  clear,  Guadaloupe,  Montserrat,  Ne¬ 
vis  and  St.  Kitt’s  may  all  be  distinguished  by  the  na¬ 
ked  eye. 

The  tortuous  descent  of  Figtree  Hill,  though  not 
so  rich  and  imposing  as  the  mountains  and  valleys  of 
Trinidad,  is  yet  a  patch  of  scenery  so  exquisitely 
beautiful  that  no  painter  or  poet,  who  had  once  seen 
it,  could  ever  forget  the  sight.  A  prodigious  num¬ 
ber  of  forest  trees  grow  on  the  tops  and  declivities 
of  the  cliffs,  and  luxuriant  festoons  and  knots  and 
nets  of  evergreen  creepers  connect  them  all  toge¬ 
ther  in  one  great  tracery  of  leaves  and  branches. 
The  wild  pine  sparkled  on  the  large  limbs  of  the 
wayside  trees  ;  the  dagger-like  ^Spanish  needle,  the 
quilled  tpimploe  and  the  Jmaypole  aloe  shooting 
upwards  to  twenty  feet  with  its  yellow  flowering 
crown  on  high  formed  an  impenetrable  mass  of  ve¬ 
getation  around  the  road,  and  seemed  fixed  on  pur¬ 
pose  there  to  defend  the  matchless  purple-wreaths 
or  lilac  jessamine,  which  softened  the  dark  foliage 
amongst  which  they  hung,  from  being  plucked  by 
the  hand  of  the  admiring  traveller.  Meanwhile  a 
vigorous  song  of  birds  arose,  and  made  the  silent 

*  Bidens  pilosa.  j*  Cactus  tuna.  J  Agave  Americana. 


220 


ANTIGUA. 


defile  ring  with  the  clear  morning  sound  of  Eu¬ 
ropean  warblers,  in  the  midst  of  which  and  ever  and 
anon  some  unseen  single  creature  uttered  a  long- 
drawn  quivering  note,  which  struck  upon  my  ear 
with  the  richness  and  the  melancholy  of  a  human 
voice.  Many  persons  have  remarked  the  extra¬ 
ordinary  tones  of  this  bird,  but  I  could  not  learn  any 
name  for  it.  It  is  the  lovelorn  nightingale  of  a 
silent  tropic  noon. 

Antigua  depends  generally  for  its  water  upon  the 
rain  collected  in  tanks,  and  those  who  have  been 
long  accustomed  to  the  insipidity  of  this  beverage 
can  with  great  difficulty  reconcile  themselves  to  the 
rough  vivacity  produced  by  the  earthy  particles  in 
common  pump  water.  It  is  however  a  mistake  of 
Bryan  Edwards  to  say  that  there  are  no  springs  in 
this  island  ;  a  remarkably  sweet  and  transparent 
one  is  to  be  found  on  the  left  hand  side  of  the  road 
at  some  little  distance  before  the  descent  of  Figtree 
Hill.  If  you  are  nice,  you  should  take  a  glass 
tumbler  to  see  the  precious  liquor  sparkle;  other¬ 
wise  there  is  an  antique  negro  always  croning  hard 
by  who  will  lend  you  a  clean  calabash.  There  are 
great  numbers  of  ponds  in  the  low  parts  of  the 
estates  which  are  filled  by  the  rain  and  serve  for  the 
cattie  and  domestic  water  fowls ;  in  wet  weather 
these  guts,  as  they  are  called,  overflow  their  banks 
and  often  interrupt  all  communication  by  carriages 
on  the  roads.  It  is  curious  to  see  how  arbitrary  the 


ANTIGUA. 


221 


unfashionableness  of  words  is  ;  if  you  commend  the 
wing  of  a  duck  here,  it  is  a  chance  your  hostess,  a 
pleasing  and  lady-like  woman,  will  express  to  you 
the  place  of  the  animal’s  birth  in  terms  which  might 
make  a  gentleman  of  weak  nerves  leap  out  of  his 
chair.  It  sounds  odd,  but  really  it  is  high  time  to 
get  rid  of  these  boarding  school  prejudices,  which 
would  deprive  an  Englishman  of  his  Saxon  name  for 
the  intestines  of  humanity. 

The  planters’  houses  were,  I  think,  the  best  ap¬ 
pointed  of  any  that  I  saw  in  the  West  Indies.  Many 
of  them  are  very  old  mansions,  and  constructed 
upon  a  more  spacious  and  substantial  plan  than  is 
generally  deemed  expedient  in  these  days  of  mort¬ 
gages.  A  small  park  or  lawn  is  commonly  enclos¬ 
ed  round  the  house,  and  the  sugar  works,  which, 
however  picturesque  at  a  distance,  are  a  very  dis¬ 
agreeable  appendage  at  hand,  are  so  well  concealed 
by  trees  and  bushes  that  in  many  cases  their  exist¬ 
ence  would  not  be  suspected  by  a  person  within  the 
principal  building.  I  saw  with  great  pleasure  also 
the  formation  of  some  pretty  flower  gardens,  for 
which  there  are  such  manifold  facilities  and  delight¬ 
ful  rewards,  that  it  is  surprising  their  existence 
should  be  so  rare.  The  coloring  of  floral  vegeta¬ 
tion  within  the  tropics  is  certainly  not  so  diversified 
and  finely  graduated  as  in  England,  but  it  is  infinite¬ 
ly  more  gorgeous  and  majestic.  The  scarlet  cor- 
dia,  the  crimson  hibiscus,  the  pink  and  saffron 
20 


222 


ANTIGUA. 


flower-fence,*  the  plumeria,  the  white  datura,  and 
whiter  amaryllis  seem  to  be  the  oil-painting  of  na¬ 
ture  ;  the  colors  are  all  massy,  deep  and  golden, 
and  the  dark  radiancy  of  the  foliage  is  beyond  all 
imitation  or  description.  In  northern  climates  the 
flower  has  less  body  and  shade  and  regularity  about 
it;  its  lucid  freshness,  its  fallings  off  and  vanishings 
of  commingled  hues,  its  complex  designs  and  multi¬ 
form  figuring  are  lovely  and  domestic  and  no  more. 
A  cool  English  garden  is  the  water-coloring  of  the 
earth. 

Cedar  Hill,  the  seat  of  Martin  Byam,  with  its 
long  avenues  of  white  cedars  struck  me  as  being  a 
very  delectable  place ;  Byam  was  an  Eton  boy,  and 
having  fought  through  the  Peninsula  hung  up  his 
sword  non  sine  gloria,  retired  to  his  patrimony  and 
determined  to  live  like  a  gentleman.  I  ate  a  par¬ 
ticular  breakfast  at  Betty’s  Hope,  which  is  a  com¬ 
fortable  old  rustic  mansion  with  pillared  gateway, 
fantastic  trees  and  wild  birds  and  beasts  swarming 
about  it.  The  house  of  Mr.  Warner,  the  President 
of  the  Council,  is  a  very  finished  affair ;  he  is  a  de¬ 
scendant  of  the  person  of  the  same  name,  who  was 
the  chief  colonizer  of  this  and  some  of  the  neigh¬ 
bouring  islands ;  the  original  grant  by  Charles  I.  is 
framed  and  set  up  over  the  door  of  his  dining  room. 
From  the  ceiling  of  the  portico  which  was  covered 


*  Pointziana  pulcherrima  or  Barbados  pride. 


ANTIGUA. 


223 


with  foilage  of  one  sort  or  another,  a  spiral  tendril 
hung  down,  and  within  one  of  its  limber  coils,  I  re¬ 
member  a  tiny  humming-bird  had  built  his  cotton- 
woven  nest,  and  was  fearlessly  swinging  to  and  fro 
over  our  heads  with  his  breast  and  body  sunk  inside, 
and  the  tail  and  crested  head  alone  peeping  out  on 
either  side.  Here  also  I  became  acquainted  with  a 
new  dish  of  very  attractive  qualities  in  gene  re  bel- 
lariorum ;  it  is  called  Floating  Island  by  the  natives, 
because  a  certain  dense  and  vinous  mass  of  guava 
jelly  is  made  to  swim  in  guise  of  an  islet  upon  a 
stagnant  lake  of  cream  and  wine  and  sugar  and  cit¬ 
ron.  It  is  the  correlative  of  Trifle,  as  Mr.  Cole¬ 
ridge  would  say ;  but  tipsy  cake,  although  a  satis¬ 
factory  thing  per  se,  is  not  equal  to  this  jelly.  I 
confess  I  do  not  see  any  just  cause  or  impediment 
why  these  two  articles  should  not  be  joined  together 
in  one  dish.  I  am  convinced  upon  mature  diges¬ 
tion  of  the  matter,  that  a  simultaneous  absorption 
of  both  dainties  would  be  highly  agreeable  to  the 
well-informed  appetencies  of  the  man  of  taste. 
Dr.  Nugent  the  geologist  gave  us  an  excellent  din¬ 
ner  at  Merrywing  Hall,  properly  so  named  from  a 
certain  daylight  modification  of  mosquito  which  re- 
joiceth  therein.  The  tfuvaro/  wore  boots  and  the  la¬ 
dies  covered  their  ancles  and  feet  with  shawls ;  I 
being  ignarus  rnali  was  horribly  punished ;  never¬ 
theless  we  enacted  a  quadrille  in  the  evening  for  the 
amusement  of  the  negros  of  the  establishment. 


224 


ANTIGUA. 


Every  Creole  female  loves  dancing  as  she  lovee 
herself.  From  the  quadrille  of  the  lady  down  to 
the  John- John  of  the  negro,  to  dance  is  to  be  hap¬ 
py.  The  intense  delight  they  take  in  it  is  the  na¬ 
tural  consequence  of  that  suppression  of  animal  vi¬ 
vacity  which  the  climate  and  habits  of  the  West 
Indies  never  fail  to  produce.  The  day  is  passed 
within  doors  in  languor  and  silence  ;  there  are  no 
public  amusements  or  public  occupations  to  engage 
their  attention,  and  their  domestic  cares  are  few. 
A  ball  is  therefore  to  them  more  than  a  ball  ;  it  is 
an  awakener  from  insensibility,  a  summoner  to  so¬ 
ciety,  a  liberator  of  locked  up  affections,  an  inspi- 
rer  of  motion  and  thought.  Accordingly  there  is 
more  artlessness,  more  passion  than  is  usual  with  us 
in  England ;  the  soft  dark  eyes  of  a  Creole  girl 
seem  to  speak  such  devotion  and  earnestness  of 
spirit  that  you  cannot  choose  but  make  your  part¬ 
ner  your  sweetheart  of  an  hour;  there  is  an  attach¬ 
ment  between  you  which  is  delightful,  and  you  can¬ 
not  resign  it  without  regret.  She  is  pale,  it  is  true, 
but  there  is  a  beauty,  as  South  said,  in  this  very 
paleness,  and  her  full  yet  delicate  shape  is  at  once, 
the  shrine  and  censor  of  Love,  whence  breathe 
the  melting  thought, 

The  kiss  ambrosial,  and  the  yielding  smile. 

Their  dancing  is  an  andante  movement,  but  they 
never  tire.  Upborne  with  indefatigable  toes,  they 
will  hold  you  seven  or  eight  hours  right  on  end,  and 


ANTIGUA. 


225 


think  the  minutes  all  too  short.  At  four  in  the 
morning  my  last  partner  went ;  she  had  started  at 
half-past  seven ;  she  could  no  longer  resist  the  ca¬ 
vernous  yawns  of  her  papa  and  mama,  but  it  was 
reluctantly  that  she  went ; 

necdum  satiata  recessit. 

I  like  a  ball  in  the  West  Indies  better  than  in 
England.  True  it  is  that  you  perspire,  but  then  you 
have  not  to  undergo  the  triumph  of  superior  fri¬ 
gidity  in  your  partner;  she  perspires  in  precise 
analogy  with  yourself,  lifts  and  relifts  the  cambric 
toties  quoties,  as  the  Papists  say,  whiles  ever  doth 
the  orient  humour  burst  forth  at  intervals  upon  her 
ivory  cheek,  and  gravitate  in  emulous  contrafluence 
with  your  own.  Windows,  doors  and  jalousies  are 
all  thrown  open  to  the  breezes  of  night;  flowers  and 
evergreens  give  life  and  verdancy  to  the  walls, 
and  the  golden  moon  or  diamond  stars  gleam 
through  the  many  openings  with  that  rich  and  sleepy 
splendour  which  good  men  will  see  hereafter  in  Pa¬ 
radise.  It  is  my  advice  not  to  drink  much  ;  restrain 
yourself  till  twelve  o’clock  or  so,  and  then  eat 
some  cold  meat  and  absorb  a  pint  of  porter  cup, 
which  is  perfectly  innoxious  to  the  system,  and  more 
restorative  to  the  animal  spirits  than  punch,  wine 
or  sangaree.  Above  all  do  not  be  persuaded  to 
swallow  any  washy  tea  ;  it  gives  neither  strength  or 
vivacity,  but  rather  impairs  both,  and  makes  you 
excessively  uncomfortable.  It  is  important  to  re- 


226 


ANTIGUA. 


mark  that  your  shirt  collars  should  be  loose  round 
the  neck,  and  the  gills  low ;  a  mere  white  stock  of 
thick  holland  well  starched  with  arrow-root  is  the 
best  cravate ;  otherwise  with  the  ordinary  appara¬ 
tus  your  cloth  in  an  hour  becomes  a  rope,  and  the 
entire  focale  sinks  into  a  state  of  utter  dissolution. 

La  philosophic  est  quelque  chose,  mais  la  Danse! 
— said  the  French  lady.  Dear  maids  of  the  Antil¬ 
les,  windward  and  leeward,  it  is  even  so  with  you  ! 
Sweet  are  ye  at  your  breakfast  of  yams  and  plan¬ 
tains,  sweet  at  your  dinner  of  squash  and  guinea 
fowls,  sweet  when  ye  perpetrate  political  economy, 
and  urge  humanity  towards  the  slaves,  but  sweeter 
than  your  father’s  sugars  are  ye,  dear  heirs  of  the 
Caribbs,  when  ye  come  brilliant  and  happy  to 
shine,  like  Houris  in  the  dance. 

Beasts  should  do 
Homage  to  man,  but  man  shall  wait  on  you. 

You  are  ofcomelier  sight,  of  daintier  touch, 

A  tender  flesh,  and  colour  bright  and  such 
As  Parians  see  in  marble  ;  skin  more  fair, 

More  glorious  head,  and  far  more  glorious  hair  ; 

Eyes  full  of  grace  and  quickness - 

A  milder  white  composes 

Your  stately  fronts;  your  breath  more  sweet  than  his 
Breaths  spice,  and  nectar  drops  at  every  kiss. 

St.  John’s  is  prettily  situated  on  the  top  and  de¬ 
clivities  of  a  moderate  eminence  on  the  west  side 
of  the  island.  The  streets  are  wide  and  laid  out  at 


ANTIGUA. 


227 


right  angles,  and  are  generally  clean.  They  are 
however  for  the  most  part  stuck  full  of  such  purga¬ 
torial  stones  that  1  doubt  if  a  saint  could  walk  to 
Paradise,  if  the  road  thither  were  paved  with  the 
like  of  them.  The  Antigonians  delight  in  a  vehicle 
called  a  John  Bott,  which,  with  the  single  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  patache  from  Fontainebleau  to  Orleans, 
is  the  most  inhuman  carriage  that  ever  was  invented 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Devil  for  the  use  of  rheu¬ 
matic  man.  It  is  in  fact  the  upper  moiety  of  a  sen¬ 
try  box  clapped  bodily  upon  two  gig  wheels  ;  up 
and  down,  down  and  up,  this  way  and  that  way  are 
you  banged  about,  till  your  head  aches,  your  teeth 
get  on  edge,  and  your  stomach  is  sea-sick  ;  and  pend¬ 
ing  all  this,  you  and  yours  are  obnoxious  to  every 
species  of  caballine  ejaculation.  Fifty-one  thou¬ 
sand  black  angels,  as  said  the  choleric  Manchagan, 
seize  the  guilty  idolon  of  John  Bott,  and  trot  him  / 
into  madness  in  one  of  his  own  creations  on  the  sto¬ 
niest  roads  of  Tartarus ! 

neque  eriim  lex  aequior  ulla  est, 

Quam  necis  artifices  arte  perire  sua. 

The  church  is  beautifully  situated  on  a  point 
where  the  descent  towards  the  sea  commences,  and 
commands  a  noble  prospect  of  the  town,  the  har¬ 
bour,  Fort  James,  the  romantic  hills  of  the  Five 
Islands,  and  the  ocean  in  the  distance.  It  is  the 
finest  church,  after  that  unrivalled  one  in  Port  of 


228 


ANTIGUA. 


Spain,  of  any  that  l  saw  in  the  W  est  Indies  ;  it  is  not 
indeed  quite  so  large  as  the  cathedral  in  Bridge 
Town,  but  in  architecture,  arrangement,  decoration 
and  site  it  is  much  superior.  There  is  a  large  slo¬ 
ping  burying  ground  attached  to  the  church,  and 
neatly  inclosed  with  a  wall.  The  pillars  of  the 
principal  gate  on  the  south  side  are  surmounted  by 
two  good  statues  of  saints  which  were  primarily 
intended  for  the  idolatry  of  Guadaloupe  or  Marti¬ 
nique,  but  were  fortunately  intercepted  by  a  Pro¬ 
testant  man  of  war  before  they  could  arrive  at  the 
place  of  their  destination. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  unchristian  practice  of 
excluding  the  corpses  of  slaves  and  colored  people 
from  the  ordinary  burying  grounds,  and  of  shovel¬ 
ling  them  into  unconsecrated  earth  in  any  out  of  the 
way  place,  was  to  be  found  in  Antigua  during  my  stay 
there.  Conceive  the  feelings  of  a  respectable  free- 
colored  man,  who  is  forced  by  this  detestable  pre¬ 
judice  to  deposit  the  body  of  his  wife  or  daughter  in 
a  place  and  manner  which  he  well  knows  every 
white  Christian  would  consider  to  the  last  degree 
ignominious  ;  where  he  himself  has  seen  the  gibbet 
erected  and  the  murderer  hanging!  This  was  ac¬ 
tually  the  case  in  St.  John’s.  The  Bishop,  as  I 
have  said  before,  expressed  his  disgust  at  this  usage, 
and  I  hope  for  the  common  credit  of  the  colonies 
that  we  shall  soon  hear  that  it  is  universally  abo¬ 
lished.  The  very  least  that  can  be  done  is  to  inclose 


ANTIGUA. 


229 


the  ground,  and  to  take  good  order  that  it  be  as 
much  respected  as  the  solemnity  of  its  character 
demands. 

The  jail  is  like  most  others  in  the  West  Indies, 
that  is  to  say,  as  bad  in  every  way  as  possible. 
The  windows  of  some  of  the  rooms  look  into  the 
street,  and  through  those  on  the  ground  floor  any 
communication,  either  of  rum  or  talk,  may  go  on  at 
all  times.  The  court  is  a  mere  swamp  of  mud  and 
water  with  pigs  wallowing  about  in  it,  and  the  whole 
scene  is  wretched  beyond  description.  They  adopt 
here  also  the  practice  of  turning  out  gangs  of  pri¬ 
soners  to  walk  in  the  streets  with  a  chain  about 
their  legs.  It  is  really  amazing  that  in  a  colony  so 
enlightened  as  Antigua,  where  their  other  public  in¬ 
stitutions  are  conducted  in  a  very  exemplary  man¬ 
ner,  such  a  gross  nuisance  should  be  permitted  to 
remain  under  the  eyes  of  the  Legislature.  I  am 
sure  there  are  men  in  this  island  who  have  sense 
enough  to  see  the  absurdity  as  well  as  the  iniquity 
of  such  a  prison  and  such  a  prison  discipline.  Mr. 
Buxton  might  do  good,  if  he  would  turn  his  thoughts 
to  this  part  of  the  West  Indian  system.  The  Afri¬ 
can  Institution  itself  could  find  no  words  too  strong 
wherewith  to  condemn  it. 

The  Court  House  is  a  neat  and  spacious  building, 
and  contains  the  chambers  for  the  Council  and  As¬ 
sembly,  and  a  hall  for  the  administration  of  justice. 
The  advocates  wear  gowns  and  bands,  but  no  wigs. 


230 


ANTIGUA. 


and  I  am  not  certain  that  they  keep  worse  order 
amongst  themselves,  or  behave  less  respectfully  to 
the  bench  than  may  be  justified  by  the  occasional 
style  of  the  bar  at  most  of  the  quarter  sessions  in 
England.  There  is  the  same  abstinence  from  irre¬ 
gular  interruption,  the  same  urbanity  towards  each 
other,  and  the  same  cheerful  submission  to  that  de¬ 
cision  which  the  constitution  of  their  country  makes 
binding  on  them,  which  severe  critics  have  predica¬ 
ted  of  the  junior  barristers  of  the  mother  land. 
Whether  the  colonial  bar  might  not  still  improve 
upon  their  English  model,  whether  a  superior  de¬ 
gree  of  decorum,  regularity  and  legal  gravity  might 
not  be  introduced,  the  counsel  be  less  personal  and 
more  argumentative,  the  bench  iess  easy  and  more 
profound,  may  deserve  the  consideration  of  all  the 
members  of  the  learned  profession  in  the  West  In¬ 
dies, ..  .they  ever  bearing  in  mind  that  the  bench 
and  the  bar  are  things  mutuo  dantia  et  recipientia 
honorem,  and  that  where  the  first  is  not  respected, 
the  second  is  usually  despised. 

I  was  particularly  struck  with  the  extreme  neat¬ 
ness  of  the  dresses,  and  the  devout  behaviour  of 
the  coloured  classes  who  attended  divine  service 
at  St.  John’s  church.  It  would  have  been  im¬ 
possible  to  have  added  any  thing  to  the  elegance 
and  fine  style  of  many  of  the  women.  They  sat 
in  great  numbers  round  the  rails  of  the  altar,  and 
it  was  intended  to  inclose  pews  towards  the 


ANTIGUA. 


231 


western  end  for  the  express  purpose  of  their 
being  appropriated  to  separate  families.  As  it  is, 
the  leading  persons  among  the  coloured  inhabitants 
often  give  it  as  a  reason  for  not  attending  the 
established  service,  that  they  cannot  be  sure  of 
finding  room  for  their  wives  and  children  with 
themselves,  and  are  always  liable  to  the  intrusion 
of  other  people  who  may  easily  happen  to  be 
such  both  in  demeanour  and  apparel,  as  to  render 
contact  with  them  a  serious  inconvenience.  It  is 
common  justice  to  concede  these  points,  and 
common  policy  to  encourage  the  feelings  which 
are  connected  with  them.  The  free  mulattos  in 
the  West  Indies  would  naturally  incline  rather  to 
the  side  which  elevates  than  to  that  which  de¬ 
grades  them  in  society  ;  they  are  an  obvious  bul¬ 
wark  of  defence  to  the  whites  against  the  blacks ; 
and  it  should  seem  that  nothing  but  the  most 
vexatious  persecution  and  injurious  antipathies 
could  convert  them  into  antagonists.  In  Antigua 
they  are  upon  the  whole  fairly  treated,  though 
there  are  still  many  things  which  should  be 
granted  to  them,  if  not  for  conscience  sake,  yet 
because  it  is  useless  to  withhold  them.  There  is 
considerable  personal  property  possessed  by  this 
class,  and  the  only  or  the  principal  newspaper  of 
the  island  is  conducted  by  a  coloured  man;  a  cir¬ 
cumstance  which  a  Barbadian  would  think  im¬ 
ported  a  tolerable  share  of  liberality  in  the  white 
community. 


232 


ANTIGUA. 


There  are  several  schools  in  the  town  under 
the  respective  care  of  Moravians,  Methodists  and 
the  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Conversion 
of  Negros.  There  is  also  one  small  school  for  the 
education  of  white  children  of  both  sexes,  which, 
as  far  as  it  went,  was  in  good  order,  and  the 
scholars  taught  to  read  and  speak  with  a  pure 
accent.  But  this  last  institution  must  be  consi¬ 
derably  enlarged,  and  the  boys  and  girls  separated ; 
at  present  it  is  wholly  inadequate  to  the  wants  of 
the  colony  or  even  of  the  parish.  There  is  no 
reason  why  Antigua,  according  to  its  more  limited 
population,  should  not  furnish  instruction  to  its 
native  young  on  the  same  excellent  plan  which  is 
so  creditable  to  Barbados.  I  cannot  but  think  it 
a  reproach  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  islands 
that  the  Central  School  in  Bridge  Town  should 
remain  an  unique  in  this  part  of  the  West  Indies. 

I  went  to  see  the  African  Free  Apprentices, 
who  were  all  drawn  up  in  line  in  the  yard  of  the 
Custom  house.  They  amount  to  upwards  of  two 
hundred,  and  consist  of  natives  of  the  various 
coasts  of  Africa,  who  have  been  captured  by  our 
cruisers  on  board  unlawful  bottoms  and  landed  at 
St.  John’s.  It  has  been  the  intention  of  govern¬ 
ment  to  bind  out  these  persons  as  apprentices  for 
seven  years  under  the  ordinary  incidents  of  that 
species  of  service,  and  to  declare  them  absolutely 
free  at  the  expiration  of  the  term*  This  plan 


ANTIGUA. 


233 


does  not  at  present  succeed.  As  there  is  no  law 
to  compel  the  planter  to  accept  the  labour  of  these 
apprentices,  he  naturally  consults  his  own  interest 
alone  in  hiring  them.  Unfortunately  these  wretch¬ 
ed  creatures  are  for  the  most  part  so  barbarous 
that  it  has  been  found  almost  impossible  to  induce 
them  to  engage  in  any  regular  work,  and  so  pro¬ 
fligate  that  they  universally  import  disorder  and 
vice  into  every  plantation  where  they  may  be. 
About  thirty  only  were  of  such  a  character  that 
they  could  be  safely  employed.  The  rest  remain 
in  idleness  or  in  very  useless  occupations,  and  are 
maintained  entirely  at  the  expense  of  government. 
This  is  becoming  a  very  serious  burthen,  and  still 
increases  from  quarter  to  quarter  without  the 
accomplishment,  or  a  hope  of  the  accomplishment, 
of  any  permanent  good.  It  is  in  vain  to  represent 
to  them  the  superior  advantages  of  independence 
and  the  possession  of  enjoyments  which  are  only 
to  be  obtained  by  industry ;  it  is  equally  in  vain 
to  tell  them  of  the  fertility  of  Trinidad,  where  they 
may  have  land  given  to  them  on  condition  of  culti¬ 
vating  it,  and  where  their  labour  would  be  highly 
valuable  ;. . .  nothing  moves  them,  nothing  seems  to 
make  them  think  for  a  moment  of  family  or  fprtune, 
besides  that  there  is  always  at  bottom  a  suspicion 
lurking  in  their  minds  that  you  are  going  to  entrap 
them  in  some  snare  of  which  they  are  ignorant,  and 
21 


234 


ANTIGUA. 


from  which  they  shall  not  afterwards  be  able  to 
escape.  One  short  Guinea  man,  an  uncommon 
rogue,  with  lines  and  slashes  tatooed  on  his  fore¬ 
head,  cheeks  and  chin,  in  token,  as  he  told  me,  of 
his  being  “  a  jantleman  at  home,”  replied  to  a  very 
energetic  discourse  of  mine  in  the  following  words  : 
. . .  “  Massa,  me  tank  you  for  your  tongue,  but  me 
like  stay  here ;  me  like  Antigger  very  well ;  de 
king  he  do  give  me  two  bitt  a  day,  and  me  no  for 
go  to  Trinidad,  no  not  at  all.”  “  Who  is  your 
king?”  I  asked.  “  Ki !”  retorted  my  Guinea  bird, 
“  my  king!  De  sam  as  you,  Sare,  king  George!” 
. . .  and  grinned  like  one  of  the  last-scene  devils  in 
Don  Giovanni  in  the  spirit  of  his  conquest.* 

What  is  further  intended  with  regard  to  these 
Africans,  I  know  not,  but  certainly  much  temper 
and  deliberation  are  requisite  to  deal  with  them  be¬ 
neficially.  They  present  within  a  comparatively 
small  compass  all  the  difficulties  which  would  ne¬ 
cessarily  attend  the  immediate  enfranchisement  of 

*  These  Africans  are  very  much  disliked  by  the 
Creole  slaves.  It  is  common  to  hear  two  of  them  quar¬ 
rel  bitterly  with  each  other,  when  all  the  curses  of  Eng¬ 
land  and  Africa  are  mutually  bought  and  sold  ;  but  your 
right  Creole  generally  reserves  his  heaviest  shot  for  the 
end.  After  pausing  a  moment  and  retiring  a  few  steps, 
he  saith . . .“  You!  you !”  with  the  emphasis  of  a  can¬ 
non  ball ;  “  who  are  you ,  you Willyforce  nigger  V 9 

Whereat  Congo  or  Guinea  foameth  at  the  mouth,  Creole 
evades  rejoicing  in  the  last  blow. 


ANTIGUA. 


235 


the  entire  slave  population  in  the  colonies ;  and 
they,  who  affect  to  hold  those  difficulties  cheap, 
only  discover  their  own  consummate  ignorance  of 
a  subject,  upon  which  they  have  nevertheless  the 
assurance  to  set  themselves  up  as  oracles.  If  there 
were  any  present  or  future  chance  of  converting 
these  barbarians  into  useful  citizens  by  a  lavish  ex¬ 
penditure  of  money  upon  the  actual  system,  the 
tax  might  be  cheerfully  borne  by  the  generous  phi¬ 
lanthropy  of  the  British  people ;  but  in  reality  this 
expense  is  incurred  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining 
them  in  a  situation  in  which  they  are  so  far  from  ad¬ 
vancing  in  civilization,  that  they  become  more 
vicious  and  lazy  every  day  that  they  live.  Labour 
of  every  kind  they  dislike,  agricultural  labour  they 
detest.  As  long  as  the  Crown  continues  to  support 
them  by  a  daily  pension,  they  will  not  generally 
work  at  all;  if  they  were  left  to  themselves,  they 
would  probably  labour  or  steal  as  it  might  happen, 
to  the  extent  of  procuring  subsistence,  which  would 
be  about  a  month  or  so  in  the  course  of  the  year. 
To  the  moral  stimulus  of  bettering  their  condition, 
of  acquiring  importance  and  commanding  comforts, 
they  are  utterly  insensible ;  they  care  for  none  of 
those  things ;  they  have  no  sort  of  apprehension  of 
them.  Indeed  they  seem  to  be  practical  philoso¬ 
phers,  although  no  great  political  economists  ;  and 
I  have  no  doubt,  if  they  reason  at  all,  that  they 
conclude  the  planters  to  be  egregious  fools  for  toil- 


236 


ANTIGUA. 


ing  so  heavily,  instead  of  sitting  down  in  the  shade 
and  drinking  new  rum  all  the  day  long. 

If  the  disposition  of  these  negros  lay  with  me,  I 
would  immediately  transport  them  all  to  Trinidad, 
separate  them  into  small  troops  of  fifty  each  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  own  selection,  and  give  each  village  a 
portion  of  land  to  clear  and  cultivate.  The  clear¬ 
ing  of  the  soil  should  be  effected  by  task  work  under 
the  superintendence  of  a  commandant,  and  the  la¬ 
bourers  should  receive  rations  for  themselves  and 
families  in  the  nature  of  wages  for  the  work  done. 
When  the  ground  was  properly  prepared,  a  reason¬ 
able  quantity  of  it  should  be  apportioned  to  individu¬ 
als  or  heads  of  families,  the  rations  should  cease, 
and  they  should  hold  their  land  upon  this  condition 
that  their  share  should  be  kept  in  a  state  of  cultiva¬ 
tion  throughout  the  year.  If  this  condition  were 
broken,  and  the  negro  were  thereby  to  become  bur- 
thensome  to  the  community,  the  commandant 
should  be  directed  to  confiscate  the  land  to  general 
purposes,  unless  any  other  person  would  undertake 
to  keep  it  in  cultivation.  The  refractory  colonist 
himself  should  be  dealt  with  no  worse  or  better  than 
a  vagrant  is  treated  in  England,  that  is  to  say,  he 
should  be  committed  to  the  wholesome  correction 
of  the  tread  wheel  in  Port  of  Spain. 

This  mode  of  managing  them  might  succeed  ;  in 
Antigua,  or  any  of  the  old  colonies,  where  all  the 
soil  is  appropriated,  these  free  savages  can  never 


ANTIGUA. 


237 


be  any  thing  else  but  a  source  of  unmingled  evil  to 
the  whole  society.  In  Trinidad  they  may  at  least 
be  kept  from  doing  harm,  and  in  whatever  degree 
they  might  be  induced  to  labour,  the  effect  of  their 
industry  would  be  directly  beneficial  to  the  island. 
The  plan  is  summary  and  the  requisitions  perempto¬ 
ry  ;  but  so  it  must  of  necessity  be  with  subjects  who 
(with  all  due  reverence  to  the  human  face  divine  be 
it  spoken  !)  are  not  more  docile  or  reflecting  than 
some  of  the  beasts  that  perish.  To  talk  of  dealing 
with  these  men  in  all  the  circuitous  processes  of 
mature  civilization,  is  foolishness  beyond  all  other 
foolishness ;  it  would  not  be  in  the  least  more  ab¬ 
surd  to  commence  a  child’s  arithmetic  by  attempt¬ 
ing  to  teach  him  circulating  decimals  before  he  could 
repeat  the  multiplication  table.  I  am  in  my  con¬ 
science  firmly  persuaded  that  the  most  exact  justice 
and  the  greatest  mercy  we  can  show  towards  these 
benighted  beings,  will  consist  in  chalking  out  for 
them  a  path  in  which  they  are  to  walk,  and  uniform¬ 
ly  to  restrain  them  from  wandering  out  of  it.  I  am 
speaking  now  of  the  adults  only,  for  although  I  set 
no  bounds  to  the  possible  improvement  in  the  cha¬ 
racters  of  grown  persons  of  this  stamp,  yet  it  must 
be  obvious  that  no  general  and  effectual  change  will 
take  place  in  the  bulk  of  the  society,  except  by  la¬ 
bouring  in  the  soft  and  unprejudiced  soil  of  child¬ 
hood.  It  cannot  be  urged  too  often  or  too  strongly 
that  the  instruction  of  the  young  is  the  great  object 
21* 


238 


ANTIGUA. 


which  should  engage  the  attention  of  all  well-wish- 
ers  to  the  negro  population  ;  towards  this  deep  and 
prolific  centre  all  the  forces  of  philanthropy  ought  to 
converge ;  for  here  that  may  be  done  safely  and  cer¬ 
tainly  which  at  another  time  and  under  other  cir¬ 
cumstances  will  be  always  attended  with  some  dan¬ 
ger  and  most  commonly  with  no  success.  Schools 

FOR  THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  SLAVES  ARE  THE  FIRST 
AND  CHIEF  STEP  TOWARDS  AMELIORATION  OF  CON¬ 
DITION  AND  MORALS  IN  EVERY  CLASS  OF  PEOPLE  IN 
THE  WEST  INDIES. 

The  fossils  and  petrified  woods  of  this  island  are 
pre-eminently  beautiful ;  they  are  found  on  various 
parts  of  the  coast  by  the  curious,  but  the  finest  spe¬ 
cimens  are  to  be  seen  in  a  shop  in  St.  John’s.  Pro¬ 
fessor  Bu cld and,  I  think,  possesses  the  petrified  root 
or  a  cocoa  nut  tree  in  great  perfection,  and  I  re¬ 
member  seeing  the  top  of  a  cabbage  tree  entirely 
converted  into  or  enshrined  in  bluish  white  chal¬ 
cedony,  so  pure  that  the  most  delicate  folds  of  the 
core  or  young  leaves  within  were  visible  as  through 
a  piece  of  plate  glass.  Brooches  and  other  trinkets 
are  made  of  various  stones  commonly  met  with 
here,  but  they  demand  such  a  very  disproportionate 
sum  for  the  smallest  of  them,  that  a  man  must  have 
more  money  or  less  wit  than  he  wants  if  he  pur¬ 
chases  any. 

At  Green  Castle,  an  estate  of  Sir  Henry  Martin’s, 
there  was  a  simple  and  ingenious  plan  for  diminish- 


ANTIGUA. 


239 


ing  the  labour  of  the  negroes  in  carrying  the  bun¬ 
dles  of  canes  up  the  acclivity  on  which  the  mill  is 
built.  Two  light  revolving  cylinders  were  mount¬ 
ed,  one  at  the  foot  of  the  ascent,  the  other  at  the 
top  ;  canvass  was  tightly  stretched  over  both  and 
from  one  to  the  other,  and  ledges  of  wood  fastened 
across  this  bridge  of  communication,  against  which 
the  junks  of  canes  rested.  The  axle  of  the  upper 
cylinder  was  connected  with  the  moving  power, 
and  thereby,  as  it  went  round,  brought  up  the  canes 
in  constant  succession  to  the  hands  of  the  boatswain 
or  feeder  of  the  mill.  A  better  plan  for  the  future 
would  be  to  have  no  ascent  at  all,  which  is  now 
generally  recognized  as  the  best  mode  in  Barbados. 
In  Antigua  the  rollers  or  cylinders  for  expressing  the 
cane  juice  are  usually  placed  in  a  horizontal  posi¬ 
tion,  which  arrangement  admits  of  the  junks  being 
spread  more  equally  over  the  grinder,  and  conse¬ 
quently  of  more  work  being  done  in  the  same  time 
than  where  the  vertical  elevation  is  adopted.  There 
was  also  in  the  farm  yard  a  very  clever  model  of  a 
vertical  windmill,  which  regulated  itself  to  all  winds, 
could  be  furled,  reefed  or  put  aback  in  five  seconds, 
and  was  found  by  experiment  to  possess  more  than 
double  the  power  of  the  usual  machine.  Hereupon 
I  have  imagined  a  device  for  sailing  ships  in  the  eye 
of  the  wind,  which  I  mean  to  sell  to  the  Admiralty 
for  a  patent  and  a  few  thousand  pounds. 

There  are  seven  parish  churches  in  the  island, 


240 


ANTIGUA. 


one  public  chapel,  and  another  private  one  neatly 
fitted  up  by  Mr.  Gilbert  for  the  use  of  his  own 
slaves.  There  are  many  establishments  of  Mora¬ 
vians  who  live  in  a  quiet  and  inobtrusive  way,  and 
have  done  much  good  in  educating  the  young  negros 
on  the  plantations  to  the  extent  that  was  permitted 
to  them.  They  are  chiefly  Germans,  and  seem  a 
remarkably  kind  and  worthy  sort  of  people.  Anti¬ 
gua  is  the  head  quarters  of  the  Methodists,  and  they 
swarm  in  every  direction.  With  that  sense  of  pro¬ 
priety,  that  modest  withdrawing  of  themselves 
which  characterizes  this  sect,  they  have  built  their 
meeting  house  in  St.  John’s  as  in  Basseterre,  close 
to  the  church,  and  really  make  such  a  disagreeable 
noise  with  their  incessant  attempts  to  sing,  that  I  am 
persuaded  an  indictment  would  lie  in  England 
against  them  for  causing  a  public  nuisance.  Surely 
these  good  folks  might  be  a  little  sotto  voce  in  their 
canticles  ;  the  introduction  of  a  minor  key  would 
be  a  grateful  relief  to  every  ear.  They  shun  three 
flats  as  they  would  so  many  surplices.  What  would 
Charles  Wesley  have  said  at  their  outraging  the 
spheres  after  such  a  sort  ? 

In  one  of  the  churches,  St.  Mary’s  I  think,  there 
is  a  gravestone  with  an  inscription  recording  the 
sepulture  of  the  first  white  Creole  who  was  born 
in  the  island  after  its  colonization.  His  name  was 
Rowland  Williams  and  he  seems  to  have  lived  to  a 
great  age.  The  Latin  would  not  have  escaped  the 


ANTIGUA. 


241 


critic  thumbnail  at  Eton  in  my  time,  but  that  is  a 
trifle. 

The  President,  Mr.  Athill,  entertained  us  with 
great  hospitality  in  the  government  house  during 
our  stay  in  the  island.  Moreover  he  gave  us  a 
very  smart  ball,  whereat  I  surveyed  at  leisure  the 
beauty  and  fashion  of  the  colony.  And,  if  1  were 
put  upon  my  oath,  I  believe  I  should  say  that  the 
maidens  of  Antigua  dress  better  than  the  maidens 
of  Barbados ;  peradventure  also  they  dance  with 
superior  style.  Yet  I  only  speak  of  the  average; 
for  I  know  one  Fanny  and  one  Eliza  to  windward 
who  would  beat  them  all,  especially  in  a  reel. 
Every  evening  we  used  to  be  serenaded  by  a  regu¬ 
lar  band  of  frogs,  lizards  and  crickets  who  per¬ 
formed  exceedingly  well.  The  first  intoned  the 
base,  the  second  rung  out  a  fine  metallic  tenor,  and 
the  last  added  a  brilliant  treble.  Sometimes  the 
concert  was  considerably  improved  by  a  stray  snake 
joining  in  an  occasional  overture ;  a  few  monkeys 
from  Trinidad  would  have  made  the  music  com¬ 
plete. 

Montserrat  and  Barbuda  are  comprised  within 
this  government  which  I  should  think  a  pleasant  one. 
The  roads  are  passable  for  man  and  beast,  and  it  is 
not  often  that  the  natives  are  obliged  to  drink  down 
to  the  worms  in  the  tanks.  Once,  I  believe,  many 
years  ago,  it  was  necessary  to  import  water  from 
Montserrat,  which,  being  dead  to  leeward,  was  rather 
a  precarious  source  of  supply. 


242 


ANTIGUA. 


N.  B.  “  Antigonian”  is  not  the  proper  formation 
of  .the  adjective;  it  should  be  “ Antiguan,”  for 
which  there  is  a  conclusive  authority  in  a  MS. 
poem  penes  me,  the  work  of  a  distinguished  poet 
of  the  colony  : — 

All  hail,  thou  prodigy,  ne’er  seen  before 
Or  on  Barbadian,  or  Antiguan  shore  ! 


HARBUD  A. 


The  Collector  of  the  Customs  at  St.  John’s. 
George  Wyke,  a  very  civil  gentleman  and  inge¬ 
nious  withal,  who  builds  coaches  with  no  insides 
and  sees  land  before  it  comes  in  sight,  (a  remark¬ 
ably  useful  talent  at  sea,)  offered  to  convey  us  in 
his  fine  topsail  schooner  to  this  island.  I  dare  en¬ 
gage  the  Poetess  never  carried  so  worshipful  a  crew 
before ;  indeed  how  government  went  on  in  Anti¬ 
gua  during  our  absence,  I  know  not;  for  the  Presi¬ 
dent  left  the  Council,  the  Speaker  the  Assembly, 
Captain  Lyons  his  estates,  Mr.  Turner  his  Mort¬ 
gages,  the  Aide-de-camp  his  attendance  and  carv¬ 
ing  knife,  and  the  Collector  the  receipt  of  Cus¬ 
tom  :  add  to  these  the  Bishop,  excellent  and  inde¬ 
fatigable,  the  only  one  upon  his  vocation,  the  Re¬ 
gent  of  Barbuda,  a  Kittiphonian  parson  and  the 
poor  soul  who  made  this  book. 

Blessedly  sick  fell  this  honourable  company  as 
soon  as  the  Poetess  began  to  sing  Dutch  between 
the  Sisters.  Every  prophylactic  was  at  hand,  but 
what  avail  cider  cup  or  soda  water  against  a  close 
haul  within  four  points  and  a  half  of  the  wind  upon 


244 


BARBUDA. 


a  heavy  swell  ?  The  mighty  fell,  as  Ossian  says, 
like  pie  crust  around  me;  the  Aide-de-camp  de¬ 
camped  in  ignota  loca,  the  parson  poured  forth,  like 
St.  Anthony,  to  the  fishes,  the  Lyons  got  into  a  den, 
the  mortgagee  was  himself  foreclosed,  and  the  ex¬ 
cellent  Nugent  lay  like  a  piece  of  stratified  con¬ 
glomerate  with  his  nose  bobbing  into  the  saline 
draught  which  the  Poetess  shipped  to  leeward. 
What  did  it  profit  him  then  to  know  that  clay  lies 
above  sand  or  sand  above  clay,  or  even  that  the 
world  was  made  before  the  creation  ? 

Barbuda  bears  due  north  from  St.  John’s,  and 
is  about  thirty  miles  distant.  It  is  so  low  and  level 
that  I  at  least  could  not  distinctly  make  it  out,  till 
we  were  within  four  miles  from  it.  The  coast  is 
beset  with  shoals  and  reefs  under  water,  and  it  was 
a  matter  of  some  anxiety  to  see  how  the  vessel  in¬ 
sinuated  itself,  as  it  were,  between  these  rocks,  a 
man  standing  on  the  bowsprit  and  giving  his  direc¬ 
tions  every  minute  to  the  helm.  We  got  to  land  in 
about  six  hours  from  our  setting  out. 

Here  some  of  the  party  mercilessly  oppressed 
the  sides  of  certain  macilent  and  cat-ham’d  crea¬ 
tures  which  the  natives  from  ignorance  suppose  to 
be  horses ;  they  are  ten  hands  in  height  and  their 
necks  and  heads  fall  from  the  shoulder  in  an  angle 
of  forty-five  degrees  below  the  horizon.  Four  of 
us  invaded  the  state  carriage  which  came  down 
from  the  castle  for  the  express  purpose  of  import- 


BARBUDA* 


245 


ing  us.  It  had  been,  in  times  whereunto  the  memory 
of  no  man  or  woman  could  run,  a  gentleman’s  coach 
in  England,  then  stood  hackney  on  a  stand,  then  had 
been  done  up  and  sold  to  a  West  Indian ;  the  West 
Indian  sold  it  to  a  man  who  cut  it  down,  twisted  the 
seats  about  and  started  it  as  a  public  conveyance 
between  St.  John’s  and  English  Harbour.  In  this 
period  of  its  existence,  when  Longacre  was  long 
since  dead  within  it,  the  Regent  of  Barbuda  saw  it 
and  admired,  looked  and  sighed,  sighed  and  looked  ; 
its  honest  unsophisticated  springs,  its  veteran  co¬ 
lour  won  his  approbation,  and  4  Had  I  such  an  one 
in  mine  isle,’  he  cried, 

“  My  wife  and  children  two 
Should  ride,  and  I  would  too, 

Down  the  mead  and  the  lane  leading  from  my  castle 
gate; 

A  nigger  fore  and  aft, 

A  nigger  on  the  shaft, 

And  a  pair  of  island  Arabs  to  draw  us  on  in  state.” 

In  this  vehicle  we  sat  an  hour  under  one  of  the 
most  undeniable  tempests  of  rain  I  ever  was  caught 
in,  whilst  wre  painfully  moved  on  at  a  foot’s  pace 
over  the  grassy  track  which  led  from  the  shore  to 
the  castle.  The  vegetation  on  either  side  was 
something  of  the  character  of  that  in  Anguilla,  but 
much  larger  in  its  dimensions;  it  appeared  here 
more  like  a  young  forest,  the  trees  and  bushes  being 
so  high  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  seeing  twen- 
22 


246 


BARBUDA. 


ty  yards  to  the  right  hand  or  left  of  the  road.  The 
surface  of  the  country  is  at  the  same  time  such  a 
dead  level,  except  an  inconsiderable  hillock  at  the 
other  end  of  the  island,  that  none  but  the  veteran 
woodsmen  can  traverse  it  with  certainty.  This 
forest  is  well  stocked  with  uncommonly  fine  deer, 
and  a  certain  number  of  the  slaves  are  the  recogniz¬ 
ed  gamekeepers  of  the  island.  These  men  are  call¬ 
ed  the  Huntsmen  ;  they  wear  a  leathern  cap,  a  belt 
round  their  shoulders  with  a  long  clasp  knife  stuck 
in  it,  and  a  rude  kind  of  half-boots.  They  general¬ 
ly  possess  a  horse  each,  a  duck  gun  and  dogs,  and, 
I  believe,  have  little  else  to  do  except  to  maintain 
themselves  and  procure  venison  whenever  it  is 
wanted.  The  worst  is,  the  fellows  always  fire  with 
slugs ;  so  that  usually  the  haunch  is  lacerated  in  sun¬ 
dry  places  in  a  manner  vexatious  to  the  cook,  and 
inconvenient  to  the  consumer.  Some  of  us  were 
up  to  a  regular  chase,  but  upon  an  inspection  of  the 
universal  stud  of  the  colony,  we  found  there  was  no 
horse  of  more  than  two  miles-an-hour  power,  and 
besides,  the  thickets  were  so  close  that  riding  after 
a  stag  would  have  been  impracticable.  There  was 
one  most  beautiful  tree  which  had  more  of  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  a  young  flowering  arbutus  than  any 
thing  else  that  I  remember,  some  called  it  the  clam 
cherry,  which  is  a  species  of  malpighia  common  in 
Antigua  and  Barbados,  but  I  did  not  think  it  the 
same.  1  am  sure  its  extreme  elegance  and  singulari- 


BARBUDA. 


247 


ty  would  attract  the  attention  of  any  one  who  went 
to  Barbuda. 

We  arrived  at  the  castle  as  wet  as  water  can  make 
the  outside  lendings  of  man.  Our  bags  and  port¬ 
manteaus  were  nearly  in  the  same  condition ;  but 
with  the  Regent’s  wardrobe  of  shirts,  stockings, 
sailors’  trowsers  and  jackets,  we  contrived  to  array 
ourselves  de  novo,  and  were  then  in  high  spirits  for 
turtle  soup  and  venison.  We  were  all  in  glorious 
masquerade  ;  the  aide-de-camp  multa  minans  against 
the  bucks  with  his  new  rifle,  Turner  not  only  jocose 
in  himself,  but  a  cause  of  jocoseness  in  others,  the 
Collector  starboard  and  Lyons  larboard,  and  Nugent, 
who  had  by  this  time  erected  himself  into  a  perpen¬ 
dicular,  cutting  and  butting  as  whilome  when  he 
tipped  the  arrows  of  the  young  Edinburgh  Review 
with  good  nature.  I  am  bound  in  justice  to  say  that 
I  ate  a  good  dinner.  If  a  man,  who  can  discern  be¬ 
tween  the  evil  and  the  good,  will  consider  how  few 
good  dinners  he  meets  with  in  this  state  of  exist¬ 
ence,  how  chequered  and  uneven  is  his. lot  upon  this 
great  point,  he  will  do  well  to  note  and  remember 
and  be  grateful  for  a  satisfactory  entertainment. 
Here  we  had  land  crabs,  which  they  keep  and  fatten 
in  crabberies  under  lock  and  key ;  they  are  the  best 
in  the  Windward  Islands,  and  are  a  most  savoury 
and  delicate  morsel  to  be  sure.  Squeeze  a  little 
limejuice  over  the  crab,  and  the  meat  will  be  more 
lively  and  have  a  sort  of  tang,  as  Isaac  Barrow  said 
on  a  somewhat  similar  occasion. 


248 


BARBUDA. 


The  mosquitos  are  so  terrible  in  this  place  that 
there  was  no  sitting  in  peace,  till  some  oakum  was 
lighted  and  green  leaves  thrown  upon  it,  which 
produced  a  great  smoke  and  effectually  banished 
them.  It  would  require  some  familiar  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  these  gents  the  mosquitos  to  believe  that 
this  lacrymose  smoke*  was  an  exchange  for  the 
better.  But  he  who  once  has  heard  that  shrill 
hostile  clang  about  his  nose  or  cheeks,  and  knows 
that  the  winged  wretch  only  waits  till  he  has  found 
out  the  softest  and  most  delicate  cranny  of  your 
face,  in  which  to  fix  his  cursed  proboscis,  and 
thereout  suck  your  Christian  blood,  leaving  behind 
hirn  redness  and  swelling  and  itching  and  pustule  ;••• 
this  man  would  rather  sit  in  the  smoke  of  a  brew¬ 
ery  than  be  at  the  tender  mercy  of  these  unwea¬ 
ried  plagues  of  fallen  man. 

I  slept  on  a  sofa,  and  the  Aide-de-camp  on  the 
floor  by  my  side,  and  we  defeated  the  mosquitos 
by  throwing  a  curtain  over  two  chairs  and  fastening 
it  to  the  two  window-shutters,  under  cover  of  which 
we  both  snoozed  away  like  watchmen. 

The  next  morning  before  breakfast  I  bathed 
in  the  Lagoon,  which  lies  immediately  before  the 
castle,  where  no  sharks  need  be  apprehended, 
but  a  stray  baracouta  or  so  may  occasionally  take 
his  pastime  therein.  These  fish  have  the  most 

* - - lacrimoso  non  sine  fumo 

Udos  cum  foliis  ramos,  &c. 


BARBUDA. 


249 

abominable  propensities  in  the  world,  and  really 
all  men  (for  it  does  not  concern  women)  should 
make  a  point  of  murdering  and  exterminating 
these  barbarous  brutes  by  all  the  means  in  their 
power.  The  negros  repeated  to  me  many  in¬ 
stances  of  the  inhuman  appetite  of  these  monsters, 
and  they  all  seemed  to  prefer  the  honest  highway 
robbery  of  a  shark  to  the  cowardly  cutpurse  at¬ 
tack  of  the  baracouta.  After  firing  away  a  pound 
of  gunpowder  after  whole  flocks  of  snipes  and  gulls 
and  curlieus,  I  went  home  to  breakfast,  where  the 
flies  swarmed  in  such  a  manner  as  I  had  never  seen 
before  in  the  West  Indies.  A  boy  stood  by  the 
table  all  the  meal,  and  waved  a  branch  of  some 
bush  over  the  dishes  and  cups,  but  this  only  just 
disturbed  the  hungry  creatures,  and  irritated  me 
beyond  measure. 

Two  parties  were  now  formed,  one  to  ride  into 
the  interior  of  the  island,  the  other  to  sail  over 
the  Lagoon  and  see  the  seine  drawn.  I  chose 
the  latter,  and  it  was  one  of  the  memorable  days 
which  I  passed  in  the  West  Indies.  The  Lagoon 
is  a  magnificent  piece  of  brackish  water  seven 
miles  square  and  communicating  on  the  north 
west  by  a  long  flash,  as  they  call  it,  or  river  with  a 
large  bay,  which  again  is  separated  from  the  outer 
sea  by  a  black  reef  of  rocks,  over  the  top  of  which 
the  breakers  rush  and  dash  in  a  tempest  of  foam. 
It  was  upon  this  reef  that  H.  M.  S.  Woolwich  was 
22* 


250 


BARBUDA. 


wrecked,  and  is  now  commonly  called  Sir  Bethel 
Codrington’s  copper  mine. 

We  set  sail  from  the  quay  in  two  schooners  with 
about  thirty  negros.  These  last  are,  like  the  Hunts¬ 
men,  a  regular  class  amongst  the  slaves,  called  the 
Fishermen,  and  attend  almost  exclusively  to  pisca¬ 
torial  pursuits.  They  supply  a  certain  quantity  of 
the  provisions  destined  for  the  consumption  of  the 
island.  Away  we  went  before  the  wind  in  fine 
style  and  raced  our  companions  for  two  miles,  when 
the  wind  getting  round  more  ahead,  and  they  not 
bracing  up  their  yards  sharp  enough,  we  shot  by 
them  so  far  that  they  never  fetched  us  again.  We 
had  guns  on  board  to  shoot  the  flamingos  which 
usually  harbour  on  a  sandy  shoal  at  the  mouth  of 
the  flash,  but  we  saw  none,  and  it  was  said  to  be 
too  early  in  the  year  for  them. 

This  flash,  which  connects  the  Lagoon  with  the 
bay,  winds  in  a  clear  river  stream  through  a  low 
forest  of  mangroves.  No  natural  object  pleases 
me  more  than  green  trees  growing  out,  or  on  the 
margin,  of  the  sea  or  the  lake,  and  in  no  part  of 
the  world  is  this  more  beautifully  seen  than  in  the 
West  Indies.  What  European  has  not  been  pene¬ 
trated  with  wonder  and  delight  on  first  entering 
Carlisle  Bay,  and  gazing  on  the  long  avenues  of 
cocoa  nut  trees  which  fringe  the  border  of  the 
sky-blue  waters !  How  has  he  looked  with  a  travel¬ 
ler’s  curiosity  at  their  bare  and  ring-striped  stems. 


BARBUDA. 


251 


their  hanging  clusters  of  blessed  fruit,  and  the 
strange  tufts  of  branch-like  leaves  which  fall  irregu¬ 
larly  over  them !  And  then  the  dark  and  stately 
and  awful  manchineel,  the  beautiful  and  noxious — 
which,  by  a  mystery  of  kindness,  grows  on  the 
brink  of  the  salt  wave  that  the  best  and  cheapest 
remedy  for  its  corrosive  juice  may  ever  be  at  hand,* 
— the  white-wood,  another  lenitive,  and  the  bushy 
sea-side  grape  with  its  broad  leaves  and  bunches 
of  pleasant  berries  forming  a  verdant  matting  or 
table, — these  or  some  or  one  of  these  meet  the 
delighted  eye  of  the  mariner,  as  he  approaches  the 
lowlands  of  almost  all  the  intertropical  islands. 

After  the  negros  had  carried  us  ashore  on  their 
shoulders,  they  anchored  the  schooners,  and  all  leap¬ 
ed  stark  naked  into  the  water  and  let  down  the  net. 
It  was  a  scene  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  two 
rough  fishing  vessels,  the  desert  strand,  the  wild 


*  The  common  stories  about  the  fatal  shade  of  this 
tree  are  as  fabulous  as  the  changing  colours  of  the  dy¬ 
ing  dolphin.  The  shade  is  as  harmless  as  any  other 
shade.  The  fact  is,  the  juice  of  the  manchineel  is 
highly  corrosive  and  easily  extracted  ;  so  that  rain 
water  or  a  heavy  dew  will  contract  upon  the  leaves  or 
branches  so  much  of  the  poison  as  would  certainly  blis¬ 
ter  any  flesh  it  fell  upon.  The  manchineel  is  very  fine 
timber,  and  the  negros  usually  smear  themselves  over 
with  grease,  when  they  are  about  to  fell  it.  It  is  also  a 
common  trick  with  them  to  blister  their  backs  with  the 
juice  in  order  to  excite  the  compassion  of  those  who 
mistake  it  for  the  effects  of  beating. 


252 


BARBUDA. 


birds,  and  noisy  black  men  rolling  and  tumbling 
about  in  the  sea  made  me  almost  doubt  my  locality. 
When  the  net  became  contracted,  and  the  extremi¬ 
ties  of  it  almost  dragged  on  shore,  the  negros  outside 
laughing  and  splashing  and  bullying  the  prisoners, 
the  fishes  with  one  consent  became  desperate  and 
made  a  grand  sortie  by  leaping  with  prodigious 
force  and  agility  five  or  six  feet  out  of  the  water,  and 
fairly  clearing  the  heads  of  the  fishermen.  About 
a  hundred  escaped  in  this  manner ;  we  secured 
more  than  that  number  of  all  sorts,  but  chiefly  bara- 
coutas.  There  were  gold  and  silver  fish,  snappers, 
Spanish  mackarel,  kingfish,  two  adolescent  sharks 
who  would  have  amputated  a  baby’s  arm  as  soon  as 
looked  at  it,  and  three  or  four  bloody,  glutinous, 
cylindrical  beasts  without  head,  fins  or  tail,  for 
which  I  know  not  the  Latin  appellation,  and  the 
trivial  name  is  so  peculiar  that  I  cannot  find  in  my 
heart  to  write  it.  I  urged  another  haul  of  the  net, 
when  we  caught  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  more 
fine  fellows  about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  length  on  an 
average.  The  domestics  soon  set  up  some  bricks, 
lighted  a  fire,  and  broiled  us  a  fresh  baracouta, 
which  with  our  spices  and  other  additaments  was 
really  excellent.  A  tumbler  of  beer  and  two  glass¬ 
es  of  wine  made  me  feel  comfortable  again,  for  there 
was  no  shade,  and  the  sun  had  almost  sucked  all  the 
liquid  out  of  my  system.  When  we  had  embarked 


BARBUDA* 


253 


our  prey,  we  weighed  anchor,  and  bore  away  down 
the  flash  amongst  the  green  trees,  and  got  back  to 
the  quay  by  six  in  the  evening. 

Barbuda  is  holden  under  a  long  lease  from  the 
crown  by  Sir  Bethel  Codrington  upon  the  service 
of  presenting  a  fat  sheep  to  the  commander-in-chief 
of  Antigua,  whenever  he  visits  the  island.  This  is 
generally  commuted  for  a  turtle  or  a  buck.  The 
inhabitants  are  two  white  overseers,  one  of  them  a 
German,  and  about  four  hundred  slaves.  Mr. 
James,  the  attorney  of  the  estate,  visits  them  occa¬ 
sionally  and  at  those  times  resides  in  the  old  castle 
with  his  family.  No  sugar  is  grown  in  the  island, 
and  the  labor  consists  in  raising  provisions  and 
building  droghers.  The  slaves  speak  very  good 
English  and  in  reality  have  little  more  of  servitude 
in  their  condition  than  the  name.  At  the  instance 
of  the  Bishop  it  has  been  agreed  to  build  a  church 
sufficient  to  contain  the  population,  and  a  school 
will  of  course  be  an  accompaniment  to  it.  I  think, 
if  this  island  were  carefully  managed,  it  might  be 
made  very  flourishing,  and  the  negros  be  easily 
civilized. 

We  were  nearly  capsized  by  a  very  severe  squall 
in  sight  of  St.  John’s  on  our  return,  and  there  are 
such  nests  of  reefs  and  shoals  in  every  direction 
that  it  is  particularly  dangerous  to  scud.  The 
Poetess  behaved  like  a  man,  and  came  up  two  or 


254 


BARBUDA. 


three  times  with  her  gib  only,  the  main  sheet  flying 
in  the  wind.  We  left  English  Harbour  on  the  20th 
of  June,  and,  after  weathering  Deseada  with  great 
difficulty,  got  back  to  Carlisle  Bay  once  more  on 
the  evening  of  the  24th. 


BARBADOS. 


Every  one  knows  that  the  commissioned  officers 
of  His  Majesty’s  army  stand  a  far  better  chance 
with  the  fair  sex  than  any  other  class  of  His  Majes¬ 
ty’s  subjects.  Whether  they  wear  scarlet,  light 
blue,  or  green,  whether  they  ride  on  horses  or  walk 
on  foot,  whether  they  carry  mustachois  or  not — 
c’est  egal ;  they  attract  women  with  a  charm,  infect 
at  sight,  and  fascinate  by  a  turn  of  the  heel.  But 
no  where  are  they  so  killing  as  in  the  colonies ; 
there  they  are  undisputed  masters  of  white  and 
black,  fair  and  foul ;  they  revel  in  conceded  prefe¬ 
rence,  and  give  no  quarter  to  Creolian  susceptibility. 
A  blue  or  a  black  coat  is  always  in  the  awkward 
squad  of  a  ball-room,  and  even  first  lieutenants  of 
the  navy  are  generally  sent  into  the  after-guard. 
But  though  the  garrison  loves,  the  garrison  does  not 
marry  ;  they  are  better  accommodated,  as  the  man 
says  in  the  play,  and  many,  many  a  pale  and  dark¬ 
eyed  girl,  who  has  pinned  her  heart  on  the  merry 
cheek  of  England  or  the  blue  glances  of  the  High¬ 
lands,  has  only  awakened  from  her  dream  when  the 
topsails  of  the  homeward  transport  have  sunk  under 
the  ocean. 


256 


BARBADOS. 


I  dislike  the  man,  swordsman  or  not,  who  delibe¬ 
rately  trifles  with  the  affections  of  a  woman.  I 
would  rather  shake  hands  with  a  highwayman  than 
with  a  gentleman  who  has  sacrificed  to  his  own  va¬ 
nity  the  life-long  happiness  of  an  inexperienced 
girl.  I  fear  this  sort  of  conduct  has  never  yet  been 
sufficiently  reprobated,  and  females  too  often  be¬ 
tray  the  cause  of  their  sex  by  accepting  with  pride 
the  homage  of  a  man,  who  has  become  notorious 
for  the  conquest  and  desertion  of  their  sisters  ; — as 
if  his  mercy  and  love  could  be  depended  upon,  who 
has  once  been  cruel  to  an  affectionate  woman! 
The  world  laughs,  and  store  of  lying  proverbs  and 
stupid  jests  on  the  briefness  of  woman’s  love  are 
administered;  but  you  will  find,  if  your  heart  be 
not  hardened  by  selfishness,  that  this  will  be  in  vain. 
Perhaps  you  had  no  intention  of  being  serious,  you 
only  flirted,  tried  to  be  agreeable,  and  to  please  for 
the  moment;  you  had  no  conception  that  your  be¬ 
haviour  could  be  misconstrued,  and  you  shudder 
at  the  bare  thought  of  earning  the  icy  damnation 
of  a  seducer.  It  may  be  so,  for  there  is  a  descent 
to  the  hell  of  seduction,  though  that  descent  is  per¬ 
niciously  easy,  and 

Nemo  repente  fuit  turpissimus  ; 

but  what  if,  while  you  were  meaning  nothing,  your 
trifling  created  anguish,  your  sport  became  death 
to  the  poor  object  of  it?  When  by  exclusive  at- 


BARBADOS. 


257 


tentions  you  have  excited  regard,  by  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  talent,  or  by  the  display  and  devotion  of 
personal  graces  you  have  fascinated  the  mind  and 
the  heart,  when  by  the  meeting  and  the  sinking  eye, 
the  faltering  voice,  the  fervid  tone,  the  retained 
hand,  you  have  awakened  the  passion  which  you 
cannot  lay;  when  you  have  wilfully  done  this  in 
the  cold  blood  of  vanity,  and  it  suits  your  con¬ 
venience  or  your  sated  coxcombry  to  finish  the 
scene  by  an  altered  mien,  a  distant  courtesy,  or  an 
expression  of  surprise  at  the  unexpected  effects  of 
your  civility — will  you  be  able  to  quiet  your  con¬ 
science  with  a  jest  ?  Will  you  sleep  on  an  adage 
of  fools  and  a  lie  of  your  own  ?  What  if  the  poor 
being,  whose  hopes  you  have  changed  into  despair, 
whose  garden  you  have  blasted  with  mildew  and 
rust,  whose  heaven  you  have  darkened  for  ever¬ 
more,  shall  suffer  in  silence,  striving  to  bear  her 
sorrow,  praying  for  cheerfulness,  pardoning  without 
forgetting  you,  till  the  worm  has  eaten  through  to 
the  life,  and  the  body  is  emaciate  which  you  have 
led  in  the  dance,  the  voice  broken  on  which  you 
have  hung,  the  face  wan  which  you  flattered,  and 
the  eyes  frightfully  bright  with  a  funereal  lustre 
which  used  to  laugh  radiancy  and  hope  and  love 
when  they  gazed  upon  you  ?  What  if  a  prouder 
temper,  a  more  ardent  imagination,  and  a  stronger 
constitution,  should  lead  to  spite  and  impatience 
and  recklessness  of  good  and  ill  ;  if  the  experience 
23 


258 


BARBADOS. 


of  your  falsehood  should  induce  a  general  scepti¬ 
cism  of  any  truth  in  any  man  ;  if  a  hasty  and  a 
loveless  marriage  should  be  the  rack  of  her  soul,  or 
the  provocative  of  her  sin  ?  Is  there  mandragora 
could  drug  you  to  sleep  while  this  was  on  your  me¬ 
mory,  or  does  there  really  live  a  man  who  could 
triumph  in  such  bitter  woe  ? 

But 

varium  et  mutabile  semper 
F  csmina. 

O,  believe  it  not!  For  the  dear  sake  of  our  house¬ 
hold  gods,  call  it  and  cause  it  to  be  a  lie !  Be  ye 
sure  that  coquettes  are  the  refuse  of  their  sex,  and 
were  only  ordained  to  correspond  with  the  cox¬ 
combs  of  ours.  Women  have  their  weaknesses  and 
plenty  of  them,  but  they  are  seldom  vicious  like 
ours,  and  as  to  their  levity  of  heart,  who  shall  com¬ 
pare  the  worldly  skin-deep  fondness  of  a  man  with 
the  one  rich  idolatry  of  a  virtuous  girl  ?  A  thou¬ 
sand  thoughts  distract,  a  thousand  passions  are  a 
substitute  for,  the  devotion  of  a  man ;  but  to  love 
is  the  purpose,  to  be  loved  the  consummation,  to  be 
faithful  the  religion  of  a  woman  ;  it  is  her  all  in  all, 
and  when  she  gives  her  heart  away,  she  gives  a 
jewel  which,  if  it  does  not  make  the  wearer  richer 
than  Croesus,  will  leave  the  giver  poor  indeed. 

Eugenia,  with  every  faculty  do  I  love  thee ; 
thine  am  I,  in  union  or  separation,  to  my  life’s  end ; 
yet  I  wish  to  throw  up  my  sweet  service,  for  I  can- 


BARBADOS. 


259 


no t  love  as  I  ought;  I  am  muddy,  sulky,  selfish,  vain 
and  stupid.  In  visions  by  night,  in  musings  by  day. 
in  noise  and  in  silence,  in  crowds  and  in  the  wil¬ 
derness,  I  have  thought  I  saw  thee,  alone  or  not,  the 
glossy  tangles  sleeping  coiled  on  snow,  the  lips  of 
rose  half  open,  the  old  romance,  the  lake,  the 
mountain,  the  cousin  star  of  beauty— twin  divini¬ 
ties  of  Vallombrosa.  O  could  I  really  see,  could  I 
really  hear,  really  hold  that  white  and  soft  and 
faithful  hand ; 

So  white,  so  soft,  so  delicate,  so  sleek, 

As  she  had  worn  a  lilly  for  her  glove  ! 

Behold  the  force  of  imagination ;  for  I  write  thh? 
in  Barbados  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  with  the 
trade  wind  blowing  in  my  face ! 

Intervalla  vides  humane  commoda. 

It  is  all  one  for  that ;  I  swear  fromCamoens, 

Antes  sem  vos  meus  olhos  se  entriste9ao, 

Que  com  qualquer  cousa  outra  se  contentem, 
Antes  os  esque9ais  que  vos  esque^ao  ; 

Antes  nesta  lembran9a  se  atormentem, 

Que  com  esque9imento  desmere9ao 
A  gloria,  que  em  sofrer  tal  pena  sentem — 

of  which  I  can  give  but  one  translation  in  the 
world — 

Ah  !  quanto  minus  est  cum  reliquis  versari, 

Quam  tui  meminisse.* 

*  I  cannot  pass  by  the  name  of  Camoens, 

Magna  sacri  Camoentis  umbra, 


BARBADOS. 


260 

At  the  bottom  of  a  little  glen  in  Turner’s  Hall 
Wood,  one  of  the  two  remnants  of  the  virgin  forest 
of  the  island,  is  a  small  pool  or  spring  of  water.  It 
is  perfectly  cold,  though  by  its  constant  bubbling  it 
appears  to  be  in  a  state  of  ebullition.  If  you  pass 
an  ignited  match  or  candle  over  its  surface,  the  air 
bursts  into  flames  and  shoots  upwards  in  a  long  qui¬ 
vering  column  of  light.  A  poor  white  woman 
shows  the  burning  spring,  and  what  with  her  dishe¬ 
velled  hair  and  young  black  Flibbertigibbet  by  her 
side,  she  looked  as  like  a  real  witch  and  an  imp  of  Sa- 
tanas  attending  on  her  as  any  thing  I  ever  saw. 
The  cabbage  palm,  the  locust,  the  bully,  the  cedar 
and  the  mahogany  grow  around  the  spot,  and  the 


as  my  friend  Lonsdale  called  it,  without  saying  that  a 
poet  should  almost,  if  not  altogether,  as  soon  learn  Por- 
tugueze  to  read  his  sonnets  as  Italian  to  read  Petrarch. 
Lord  Strangford  gives  as  just  a  notion  of  Camoens  as 
Pope  does  of  Homer.  No  poetry  on  earth  exceeds  in 
magical  sweetness  some  of  his  verses,  and  there  is  a 
reality  and  a  human  tenderness  in  his  thoughts  and 
wishes  and  prayers  that  seem  to  come  from  the  heart  of 
the  maimed  and  persecuted  sailor.  It  is  remarkable 
that  of  all  the  numerous  versions  and  paraphrases  of 
the  theme  of  the  137th  psalm,  that  of  the  Portugueze 
seems  unquestionably  the  sweetest  and  most  original. 

De  Babel  sobre  os  rios  nos  sentamos, 

De  nossa  doce  Patria  desterrados, 

As  maos  na  face,  os  olhos  derribados, 

Com  saudades  de  ti,  Siao,  choramos,  &c. 

The  Exile  was  sitting  on  the  shore  at  Macao,  his 
guitar  by  his  side,  his  eye  on  the  ocean  and  his  heart  on 
the  Tagus. 


BARBADOS. 


261 


woman  complained  of  the  mischievous  tricks  of 
certain  boys  who  would  set  fire  to  the  spring  and 
endanger  the  existence  of  the  whole  wood.  The 
phenomenon  is  caused  by  a  constant  escape  of  sul¬ 
phuretted  hydrogen  gas.  The  place  belongs  to  Sir 
Henry  Fitzherbert. 

In  the  pleasant  garden  or.  wilderness  attached 
to  Mr.  Forster  Clarke’s  house  in  Bridge  Town,  is 
one,  and  I  believe  the  last,  specimen  of  that  singu¬ 
lar  tree  which  is  said  to  have  induced  the  Por- 
tugueze  to  call  the  island  Barbados.  It  is  usually 
taken  to  be  a  banyan,  but  if  the  tree  which  I 
saw  in  Nevis  was  the  true  banyan,  this  certainly 
is  not  one.  This  tree  shot  out  no  suckers  from 
its  own  branches,  but  was  covered  in  an  extra¬ 
ordinary  manner  with  a  net  of  weeds  and  creep¬ 
ers,  and  had  great  mats  of  twisted  tendrils  hanging 
down  from  the  top  and  waving  in  the  wind.  Some 
of  these  were  so  like  the  long  beard  of  an  old 
goat  or  Jew,  that  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  truth 
of  this  derivation  of  the  name.  Near  it  is  a  cu¬ 
rious  palm,  which  has  grown  in  a  serpentine  form 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  by  its  prickly 
bark,  its  sinuous  folds  and  elevated  crest  of  branch¬ 
es  represents  most  forcibly  to  the  imagination  some 
huge  dragon  or  serpent  of  knightly  romance. 

In  consequence  of  the  large  white  population 
in  Barbados  there  exists  a  class  of  people  which 
I  did  not  meet  with  in  any  other  of  the  islands* 
By  the  laws  of  the  colony  every  estate  is  obliged 
23* 


262 


BARBADOS. 


to  maintain  a  certain  number  of  whites  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  its  extent.  These  men  are  called  the 
Tenantry,  and  have  an  indefeasible  interest  for 
their  lives  in  a  house  and  garden  upon  the  re¬ 
spective  plantations.  They  owe  no  fealty  to  the 
landlord,  make  him  no  acknowledgment,  and  en¬ 
tertain  no  kind  of  gratitude  towards  him.  The 
militia  is  principally  composed  of  these  persons, 
and  with  the  exception  of  that  service,  the  great¬ 
est  part  of  them  live  in  a  state  of  complete  idle¬ 
ness,  and  are  usually  ignorant  and  debauched  to  the 
last  degree.  They  will  often  walk  half  over  the 
island  to  demand  alms,  and  if  you  question  them 
about  their  mode  of  life  and  habits  of  daily  la¬ 
bor,  they  stare  in  your  face  as  if  they  were  ac¬ 
tually  unable  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  your 
discourse.  The  women  who  will  work  at  all,  find 
employment  in  washing  and  mending  the  clothes 
of  the  negros,  and  it  is  notorious  that  in  many  ca¬ 
ses  whole  families  of  these  free  whites  depend  for 
their  subsistence  on  the  charity  of  the  slaves.  Yet 
they  are  as  proud  as  Lucifer  himself,  and  in  virtue 
of  their  freckled  ditchwater  faces  consider  them¬ 
selves  on  a  level  with  every  gentleman  in  the  island.* 

*  A  woman  of  this  class,  in  extreme  distress,  asked 
for  a  quarter  dollar,  for  less  than  that  they  will  not  take. 
Upon  her  complaining  of  the  expense  of  candles,  and  a 
friend  of  mine  asking  her  why  she  did  not  burn  oil,  as  he 
himself  did,  she  answered  with  a  turn  of  her  nose  ;  “  I 
hope  I  am  scornful  to  burn  oil.” 


BARBADOS. 


263 


No  English  resident  in  the  West  Indies,  however 
little  conversant  with  the  administration  of  justice 
in  his  native  country,  can  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
system  prevalent  in  the  colonies.  It  is  not  easy  to 
overrate  the  importance  of  an  enlightened  and  im¬ 
partial  judicature  in  any  place  or  at  any  time,  but 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  society  in  these  isl¬ 
ands,  render  its  existence  absolutely  indispensable. 
In  all  communities  where  slavery  is  established, 
there  ought  to  be  good  laws  to  protect  the  slaves, 
and  independent  judges  to  enforce  their  provisions  ; 
if  there  be  neither  one  nor  the  other,  or  if  there  be 
one  without  the  other,  in  either  case  one  great  cor¬ 
rective  of  the  excesses  of  the  free,  one  great  gua¬ 
rantee  of  the  safety  of  the  bond,  one  great  fountain 
of  civilization  throughout  the  whole  state,  will  be 
lost.  As  long  as  the  slave  confides  in  the  protection 
of  a  power  superior  to  his  master,  he  will  probably 
labour  in  tranquillity ;  but  if  he  finds  that  there  is  no 
such  power,  or  that  such  power  is  prejudiced 
against  him,  it  is  nothing  but  an  ordinary  impulse  of 
human  nature  that  in  case  of  oppression  he  should 
strive  to  obtain  that  by  his  violence  which  has  been, 
or  which  he  suspects  will  be,  denied  to  his  petition. 

In  Barbados  the  laws  are  administered  by  some 
twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  judges.  They  are 
all  planters  or  merchants  and  are  appointed  by  the 
Governor.  Not  one  of  them  has  ever  been  educa¬ 
ted  for  the  bar,  nor  is  any  previous  knowledge  of 


264 


BARBADOS. 


the  law  a  necessary  or  an  usual  qualification  for  the 
office.  They  neither  comprehend  the  extent,  nor 
are  agreed  upon  the  validity  of  the  laws  which  they 
are  called  upon  to  interpret;  they  can  none  of 
them  settle  the  limits  of  British  and  colonial  enact¬ 
ments;  they  adhere  to  no  fixed  principles;  they 
are  bound  by  no  precedents.  The  powers  of  a 
Chancellor  are  exercised  by  the  Governor  and  the 
Council  which  consists  of  thirteen  members,  and  it 
is  next  to  impossible  in  so  small  a  community  that 
any  cause  should  come  into  court  in  which  some  of 
these  judges  will  not  be  directly  or  indirectly 
interested.  I  make  no  charge  nor  intend  any  in¬ 
sinuation  whatever  of  corrupt  practices  ;  but  giving 
them  full  credit  for  integrity  of  purpose,  I  must  say 
that  they  stand  in  a  situation  which,  according  to 
the  spirit  of  the  British  Constitution,  incapacitates 
them  from  exercising  anyjudicial  authority.  Their 
ignorance  of,  or  shallow  acquaintance  with,  the 
duties  of  their  office  must  either  subject  their  de¬ 
cisions  to  the  influence  of  the  Attorney  General, 
or  it  may  cause  them  in  moments  of  wrongheaded¬ 
ness  or  passion  to  violate  every  form  of  law  and 
trample  upon  every  principle  of  justice. 

The  evil  is  not  so  great  in  the  other  colonies, 
because  in  them  a  single  judge  presides  in  court 
and  preserves  a  certain  uniformity  of  practice  and 
interpretation.  But  few,  if  any,  of  these  have  been 
educated  to  the  profession,  and  though  the  talents 


BARBADOS. 


265 


of  one  or  two  of  them  are  very  distinguished  and  their 
characters  unimpeachable,  yet  their  legal  knowledge 
of  course  is  not  of  that  admitted  weight  which  can 
alone  render  the  administration  of  criminal  and 
civil  justice  satisfactory  to  the  community  or  even 
equitable  in  itself.  It  would  probably  be  difficult 
to  change  this  system  entirely,  as  many  colonial 
interests  are  connected  with  it,  but  if  the  field  were 
free  and  the  whole  matter  res  integra,  it  would  be 
easy  to  demonstrate  the  general  and  lasting  advan¬ 
tages  deducible  from  the  adoption  of  the  Ionian  or 
East  Indian  plan.  An  English  barrister  of  a  rea¬ 
sonable  standing,  with  a  competent  salary,  and  a 
strict  disability  of  holding  any  property  or  filling 
any  other  office  within  his  jurisdiction,  would  be  a 
powerful  engine  of  reformation  in  a  West  Indian 
colony.  The  Crown  appoints  to  these  places  at 
present,  and  therefore  no  objection  could  be  raised 
upon  the  score  of  unjust  interference.  Indeed  the 
wise  and  benevolent  among  the  colonists  themselves 
would  soon  perceive  and  appreciate  the  benefits  of 
the  change. 

In  Barbados  the  qualifications  of  an  elector  and 
a  representative  are  the  same,  namely,  the  nominal 
possession  of  ten  acres  of  land,  whether  worth  ten 
pounds  or  ten  pence.  The  Assemblies  are  chosen 
annually  and  consist  of  two  deputies  from  every 
parish.  The  Council  is  appointed  by  the  Crown, 
and  the  members  usually  hold  their  seats  for  life* 


266 


BARBADOS. 


With  such  a  qualification  as  I  have  mentioned  be¬ 
fore,  it  is  obvious  that  the  Assembly  will  not  neces¬ 
sarily  represent,  or  be  guided  by,  the  property  and 
knowledge  of  the  community;  and  hence  it  has 
occasionally  happened  that  this  body,  in  order  to 
add  a  cubit  to  its  natural  stature  and  gather  a  few 
annual  roses  of  distinction  and  popularity  has  com¬ 
menced  squabbles  and  perpetrated  flatteries  too 
diminutive  for  the  ambition  of  a  Cornish  borough. 

The  fault  indeed  is  in  the  constitution  rather  than 
in  the  men.  Barbabos  and  most  of  the  other  West 
Indian  colonies  appear  externally  to  be  governed 
on  the  model  of  England,  but  in  reality  they  parti¬ 
cipate  in  a  small  degree  in  the  genuine  spirit  of  the 
mother  country.  They  are  practical  republics, 
and  present  as  faithful  a  picture  of  the  petty  states 
of  old  Greece  as  the  change  of  manners  and  reli¬ 
gion  will  allow.  There  is  the  same  equality 
amongst  the  free,  the  same  undue  conception  of 
their  own  importance,  the  same  restlessness  of 
spirit,  the  same  irritability  of  temper  which  has 
ever  been  the  characteristic  curse  of  all  little  com¬ 
monwealths.  The  old  remark  that  the  masters  of 
slaves,  if  free  themselves,  are  always  the  freest  of 
the  free,  is  as  eminently  true  of  them  as  it  was  of 
the  citizens  of  Athens  or  Sparta ;  submission  from 
those  below  them  is  so  natural  to  them  that  submis¬ 
sion  to  any  one  above  them  seems  unnatural,  and 
that  which  would  be  considered  as  advice  or  remon- 


BARBADOS. 


267 


strance  in  England  is  resented  in  the  West  Indies 
as  interference  or  tyranny.  To  suppose  that  a 
Major-General  or  a  Rear-Admiral,  who  depends 
for  the  best  part  of  his  pay  upon  the  generosity  of 
the  colonists  themselves,  can  effectually  represent 
the  office  of  the  king  in  the  British  constitution,  is 
quite  idle  ;  he  is  the  governor  and  nothing  more 
than  the  governor,  and  the  principle  of  honour, 
which  Montesquieu  with  some  reason  asserts  to  be 
at  least  a  great  spring  of  action  in  all  constitutional 
monarchies,  does  not  exist  in  the  colonies.  I  use 
the  term  honour  in  the  sense  of  Montesquieu,  and 
mean  nothing  with  regard  to  the  conduct  of  indi¬ 
viduals.  The  forms  of  the  English  Parliament  are 
too  gigantic  for  the  capacities  of  little  islands  ;  the 
colonists  are  not  elevated  by  the  size,  but  lost  in  the 
folds  of  the  mighty  robe  which  was  never  destined 
for  their  use. 

The  colonies  of  a  free  state  are  more  embarrass¬ 
ing  problems  of  government  than  those  of  a  coun¬ 
try  where  the  monarch  is  absolute.  The  Spanish 
possessions  in  America  were  twenty  times  as  big  as 
Old  Spain  ;  yet  were  they  for  three  centuries  regu¬ 
lated  by  an  European  Council,  which,  with  the 
exception  of  its  errors  in  commerce  and  prejudices 
concerning  race  and  rank,  governed  them  well,  and 
ultimately  effected  the  reception  of  those  human¬ 
izing  decrees  which  have  justly  raised  the  name  of 
the  Spanish  Colonists  over  those  of  any  other 


268 


BARBABOS. 


nation.  Nothing  lay  between  the  king  of  Spain 
and  the  Mexican  or  Peruvian  creole  except  the 
Atlantic,  and  although  the  space  of  separation  was 
great,  the  arm  of  power  steadily  raised  was  at  most 
times  able  to  reach  across  it.  A  different  relation 
arises  between  a  free  nation  and  its  distant  colonies. 
They  carry  their  freedom  with  them,  and  claim  a 
right  to  the  same  or  similar  privileges  wherever 
they  exist  within  the  pale  of  their  own  empire.  A 
thousand  Englishmen  leave  England  and  settle  an 
island  in  another  hemisphere.  How  shall  they  be 
governed  ?  Not  by  the  king  alone ;  for  the  king  of 
England  is  no  despot; — not  by  Parliament, — for 
they  are  not  represented  in  Parliament ;  therefore 
the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  is  obliged  to  grant  to 
them  and  their  heirs  the  forms  of  the  Constitution, 
and  they  must  govern  themselves  like  the  rest  of 
their  fellow-subjects  with  the  consent  of  the  com¬ 
mon  Executive.  If  then  they  have  a  charter,  or  a 
right  without  a  charter,  to  be  governed  in  this  man¬ 
ner,  where  is  there  room  for  the  parliament  of  ano¬ 
ther  part  of  the  empire,  in  which  their  property 
does  not  lie,  where  they  themselves  do  not  reside, 
wherein  they  are  neither  actually  or  virtually  repre¬ 
sented,  to  legislate  absolutely  for  them  ?  If  the 
case  of  the  United  States  is  to  be  holden  to  be 
good  law,  it  is  a  conclusive  authority  that  such  in- 
teference  would  be  unconstitutional. 

You  have  no  right  to  tax  the  people  of  Massa*- 


BARBADOS. 


269 


chusetts,  said  Lord  Chatham  to  th$  British  Par¬ 
liament.  Good.  The  people  of  Massachusetts 
were  taxed  to  the  amount  of  a  penny  or  two  per 
cent,  on  their  incomes  for  stamped  paper.  They 
refused  to  pay  this  tax  and  were  accounted  in  the 
House  of  Lords  good  Whigs  for  so  dong. 

You  have  a  right  to  take  one  or  two  or  three 
or  six  days  labour  of  their  slaves  from  the  people 
of  Jamaica,  Barbados  or  Antigua,  say  a  large  party 
in  this  country;  that  is,  the  British  Parliament  has 
a  right  to  tax  the  West  Indians  to  the  amount 
of  10  or  20  or  30  per  cent,  on  their  property 
without  their  consent.  If  they  grumble  at  this, 
they  are  not  Whigs  or  Tories  or  even  Radicals,  but 
the  language  of  England  is  exhausted  in  inflicting 
terms  of  abuse. 

Between  the  refusal  of  the  New  Englanders  to 
pay  a  tax  imposed  by  the  British  Parliament  and 
the  refusal  of  the  West  Indians  to  legislate  for  their 
slaves  in  the  terms  of  the  British  Parliament,  I  can 
perceive  one  collateral  ingredient  of  difference, 

and  one  only - Relative  Force.  The  recusants 

in  both  cases  claim  the  same  British  privileges, 
show  the  same  original  foundation,  and  plead  the 
same  express  charters;  they  both  insist  that  they 
have  a  right  to  be  governed  by  those  only  who, 
according  to  the  provisions  of  the  constitution, 
represent  them  ;  that  they  are  not  represented 
actually  in  the  British  Parliament,  because  they 
24 


270 


BARBADOS. 


depute  no  member  to  that  assembly ;  and  that  they 
are  not  represented  virtually  in  the  British  Parlia¬ 
ment,  for  the  best  of  all  reasons  that  they  are  actu¬ 
ally  represented  elsewhere.  The  North  Americans 
indeed  were  too  much  for  us  ;  the  West  Indians 
may  be  crushed  by  a  wave  of  Mr.  Canning’s  hand. 
If  the  people  of  Boston  had  a  right  to  resist,  and 
the  people  of  Jamaica  have  not  a  right  to  resist, 
then  Might  makes  Right,  and  a  Right  without 
Might  is  no  Right  at  all. 

That  there  is  a  distinction  in  the  morality  of  the 
cases  I  admit,  but  that  affects  not  the  question. 
Every  power  which  the  Constitution  possesses, 
statutes,  orders  in  council,  proclamations,  in  every 
age  of  its  existence  from  Elizabeth  to  George  III., 
has  authorized,  encouraged  and  confirmed  the  right 
of  the  colonists  to  the  services  of  their  slaves ;  and 
to  say  now,  because  the  spirit  of  the  times  is  unfa¬ 
vourable  to  the  tenure,  that  the  existence  of  slavery 
in  the  colonies  is  unconstitutional  is  either  paying 
the  Constitution  a  compliment  which  it  does  not 
deserve,  or  is  the  same  humane  equivocation  with 
the  assertion  that  slavery  is  inconsistent  with  the 
precepts  of  the  Christian  religion.  That  the  spirit 
of  that  religion  tends  to  abolish  servitude  is  clear : 
that  it  admits  of  servitude  is  even  still  clearer.* 

*  The  authorized  translation  very  pardonably  misre¬ 
presents  St.  Paul.  The  “  servants,”  whom  the  Apostle 


BARBADOS. 


271 


Lord  Chatham,  Mr.  Burke  and  the  old  Whigs 
before  the  French  cross,  when  they  disclaimed  the 
municipal  power  of  the  British  Parliament  to  affect 
the  property  of  the  colonists,  asserted  at  the  same 
time  its  imperial  right  to  control  the  measures  of  the 
colonies  in  extreme  cases.  “  As  to  the  metaphysi¬ 
cal  refinements,55  said  Lord  Chatham,  “  attempting 
to  show  that  the  Americans  are  equally  free  from 
obedience  and  commercial  restraints,  as  from  taxa¬ 
tion  for  revenue,  as  being  unrepresented  here ;  I 
pronounce  them  futile,  frivolous  and  groundless.55 
“  The  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,55  said  Mr. 
Burke,  “  sits  at  the  head  of  her  extensive  empire  in 
two  capacities ;  one  as  the  local  legislature  of  this 
island,  providing  for  all  things  at  home,  immediately, 
and  by  no  other  instrument  than  the  executive 
power;  the  other,  and  I  think  her  noble  capacity, 
is  what  I  call  her  imperial  character;  in  which,  as 
from  the  throne  of  heaven,  she  superintends  all  the 
several  inferior  legislatures,  and  guides  and  controls 
them  all  without  annihilating  any.  As  all  these 
provincial  legislatures  are  only  co-ordinate  to  each 
other,  they  ought  all  to  be  subordinate  to  her.  It 

enjoins  to  be  subject  to  their  masters,  were  literally 
bond  slaves,  oi  SouXoi  vtfotxousrs  roTg  xuplo ig. .  .  and  the 
fact  is  unquestionable  from  what  follows  ;  slSorsg  on  o 
lav  n  sxatfrog  <n oitjCtj  dyaQov,  rouro  xoixisTrai  rfapd  rov 
Kuplou,  sirs  dovXog,  sirs  ZXejQepog. , .  .whether  a  slave  or 
whether  a  freeman. 


272 


BARBADOS. 


is  necessary  to  coerce  the  negligent,  to  restrain  the 
violent,  and  to  aid  the  weak  and  deficient,  by  the 
over-ruling  plenitude  of  her  power.”  That  this 
distinction  is  groundless  in  theory  I  do  not  doubt ; 
that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  in  practice  I  fully 
admit.  The  conflict  between  the  forms  of  Consti¬ 
tution  and  the  necessities  of  Government  is  the 
peculiar  offspring  and  inseparable  characteristic  of 
free  colonies.  The  eternal  difficulties  and  appa¬ 
rent  contradictions,  to  which  they  give  birth,  are 
enough  to  convince  us  that  Transatlantic  Empire  is 
not  according  to  the  natural  disposition  of  human 
society.  It  originates  rights  which  cannot  be  de¬ 
fined  without  begetting  insult  on  the  one  side  and 
sedition  on  the  other.  Nearly  the  whole  continent 
of  America  has  broken  the  yoke  of  European  domi¬ 
nation  ;  we  Englishmen  with  our  thousand  ships  can 
at  present  maintain  our  hold,  especially  on  the  isl¬ 
ands,  against  all  the  world.  I  hope  we  shall  ever 
continue  to  do  so,  for  it  would  be  a  piercing  wound 
to  our  commerce  and, our  power  if  the  West  Indies 
could  be  made  the  harbours  and  garrisons  of  possible 
enemies  to  us.  Some  young  politicians  of  more 
rhetoric  than  information  hold  these  things  cheap  ; 
but  every  seaman,  merchant,  and  practical  states¬ 
man  knows  their  inestimable  importance.  We 
must  therefore  act  with  deliberation  ;  we  must  be 
firm,  but  cautious,  conciliatory,  long-suffering; 


BARBADOS. 


273 


seeing  that  we  also  ourselves  have  waded  to  our 
middle  in  the  system  which  now  we  seek  to  destroy. 

I  trust  the  tenor  of  this  book  will  protect  me 
from  the  imputation  of  wishing  to  justify  the  ex¬ 
cesses  or  defend.,  the  obstinacy  of  some  of  the 
colonial  legislatures.  Indeed  I  am  so  deeply  con¬ 
vinced  of  the  inexpediency  of  their  existence  at  all, 
that  if  I  had  the  right  and  the  power  to-morrow,  I 
would  expunge  the  whole  system  and  establish  a 
viceregal  government  with  a  council  of  advice  in 
its  stead.  If  the  colonies,  through  pique  or  mad¬ 
ness,  will  not  amend  those  parts  of  the  system 
which  are  plainly  indefensible,  they  must  abide  by 
the  consequences  of  having  the  thing  done  in  spite 
of  them.  But  my  object  is  to  suggest  to  the  well 
meaning  but  inconsiderate  enthusiasts  of  this  country 
that  there  really  are  solid  difficulties  in  this  matter, 
and  to  induce  them,  if  possible,  to  adopt  a  calmer 
and  more  equitable  tone  in  their  conversation  on  a 
subject  with  which  they  are  but  imperfecly  acquaint¬ 
ed,  and  which  involves  principles  and  consequences 
of  the  extent  of  which  they  have  no  conception. 


24* 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


X  hope  and  believe  that  the  time  is  almost  come 
when  the  cause  of  religion  and  real  philanthropy, 
as  it  respects  the  West  Indies,  will  be  placed  on  its 
true  footing ;  and  it  is  highly  worthy  of  the  counsels 
of  England  to  see  that  this  cause  be  speedily  disen¬ 
cumbered  of  the  trammels  which  prejudice,  igno¬ 
rance  and  hypocrisy  have  respectively  heaped  upon 
it.  In  setting  about  the  conversion  of  more  than 
800,000  black  slaves  into  free  citizens,  we  must  act 
sensibly  and  discreetly  ;  especially  we  must  begin 
with  the  beginning,  for  it  is  not  a  matter  of  decree, 
edict,  or  act  of  Parliament ;  there  is  no  hocus  pocus 
in  the  thing,  there  are  no  presto  movements.  It  is 
a  mighty  work,  yet  mighty  as  it  is,  it  must  be  effect¬ 
ed,  if  at  all,  in  the  order  and  by  the  rules  which 
reason  and  experience  have  proved  to  be  alone 
effectual.  If  we  attempt  to  reverse  the  order  or  to 
alter  the  mode,  we  shall  not  only  fail  ourselves  but 
make  it  impossible  that  any  should  succeed. 

I  do  not  expect  to  move  the  convictions  of  those 
who  measure  the  improvement  of  the  colonies  by 
the  reports  of  a  Methodist  missionary,  and  I  am  quite 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


275 


hopeless  of  those  whose  sole  concern  it  seems  to  be 
to  make  a  speech  at  the  Freemasons’  Tavern,  and 
who  can  put  up  with  the  admiration  which  issues 
from  between  fans  and  reticules.  But  there  is,  I 
trust,  a  large  though  more  silent  body  of  wise  men, 
who  are  neither  Methodists  nor  Abolitionists,  who 
get  up  no  reports  and  make  no  speeches,  but  as 
Englishmen,  of  no  party  but  that  of  England,  will 
keep  an  anxious  and  a  patient  eye  on  a  vast  though 
remote  branch  of  the  empire,  and  will  not  suffer  the 
just  rights  of  white  or  black  to  be  destroyed  by  the 
ignorance  or  the  wickedness  of  faction.  This  body 
is  the  people,  and  their  voice  will  be  heard  through 
every  thing,  and  must  be  obeyed  in  spite  of  every 
thing.  It  is  the  voice  of  a  monarch.  But  let  not 
the  colonists  imagine  because  there  has  been  a  natu¬ 
ral  reaction  against  the  puerilities  of  the  African  In¬ 
stitution,  that  therefore  the  pleaded  cause  of  the 
planters  is  sheerly  triumphant  in  England  : . . .  they 
should  know  that  the  excesses  of  Macqueen  are 
as  justly  reprobated  as  those  of  Stephen,  and  that 
neither  pieces  of  plate,  nor  slaughtered  men  of  straw 
can  divert  the  serious  gaze  of  enlightened  philan¬ 
thropy  from  the  very  recesses  of  their  dwellings. 
England  expects  them  as  well  as  her  other  sons  to 
do  their  duty,  and  the  expectations  of  England  are 
not  to  be  wilfully  frustrated  with  impunity. 

From  the  general  and  prominent  charge  indeed 
of  cruelty,  active  or  permissive,  towards  the  slaves 


:276 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES* 


I  for  one  acquit  the  planters*  I  have  been  in  twelve 
of  the  British  colonies :  I  have  gone  round  and 
across  many  of  them,  and  have  resided  some  months 
in  the  most  populous  one  for  its  size  in  the  whole 
world.  I  have  observed  with  diligence,  I  have  in¬ 
quired  of  all  sorts  of  people,  and  have  mixed  con¬ 
stantly  with  the  colored  inhabitants  of  all  hues  and 
of  every  condition.  I  am  sure  I  have  seen  things 
as  they  are,  and  I  am  not  aware  of  any  other  bias  on 
my  mind,  except  that  which  may  be  caused  by  a 
native  hatred  of  injustice  and  a  contempt  and  dis¬ 
dain  of  cant  and  hypocrisy.  The  tone  of  my  re¬ 
marks  will  probably  not  gain  for  me  the  favor  of 
either  party,  but  it  may  induce  many  to  listen,  whom 
the  profession  of  a  sheer  white  or  black  system 
would  certainly  alienate. 

The  truth  is,  there  is  much  to  praise  and  much  to 
condemn ;  and  the  present  state  of  society  in  the 
West  Indies  is  of  that  mingled  and  peculiar  cha¬ 
racter  that  it  is  very  difficult  for  any  one  to  con¬ 
ceive  a  just  notion  of  it  without  personal  investiga¬ 
tion  and  personal  contact  with  it.  Least  of  all  can 
an  untravelled  Englishman  understand  its  nature  ; 
fortunately  for  him,  Slavery  is  a  mere  notional  term 
to  his  mind,  and  he  associates  with  the  term  what¬ 
ever  he  has  heard  or  read  in  prose  or  verse  con¬ 
cerning  it  in  the  east  or  in  the  west,  in  the  north  or 
in  the  south.  He  knows  the  strict  definition  of 
slavery,  but  knows  not  that  so  defined  it  has  never 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


277 


permanently  existed  in  the  world.  He  is  told  that 
the  slave  is  the  absolute  property  of  the  master, 
but  knows  not  that  really  the  slave  is  scarcely  more 
the  absolutely  property  of  his  master  than  the  mas¬ 
ter  is  of  his  slave.  Of  the  relations  between  mas¬ 
ter  and  servant,  of  the  pride  of  protecting  and  of 
the  gratitude  for  protection  given,  of  the  daily  ha¬ 
bits  of  intercourse,  of  the  sense  of  mutual  depend¬ 
ence,  of  natural  affection  and  of  natural  kindness, 
of  all  those  nameless  and  infinite  emotions  of  fear 
and  hope  and  love,  which  though  light  as  air  itself 
are  strong  as,  yea  stronger  than  links  of  iron,  of  all 
these  things  which  defeat  the  definition  of  slavery 
and  make  it  to  be  an  exact  lie,  the  inhabitant  of 
England  knows  nothing.  He  thinks  the  bondage 
of  the  West  Indies  a  monstrous  exception  to  the 
general  freedom  of  mankind ;  he  knows  not  that 
such  has  existed  in  every  country  of  the  earth,  and 
does  still  exist  in  most  of  them.  Of  the  slaves  of 
Egypt,  of  Greece  and  of  Rome  he  has  read  and  for¬ 
gotten  ;  of  the  vilains  of  his  own  land  perhaps  he 
has  not  read ;  of  the  serfs  of  Russia,  of  Poland,  of 
Bohemia  and  of  Hungary  he  has  never  heard ;  of 
the  slaves  of  Africa,  and  of  the  slaves  of  Asia  he 
knows  nothing;  and  the  kidnappings  and  floggings 
of  those  who  won  Trafalgar  and  Waterloo  are  hap¬ 
pily  for  England  clothed  in  such  a  robe  of  glory 
that  Englishmen  cannot  see  through  the  majesty  of 
its  folds* 


278 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


I  would  not  sell  my  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pot¬ 
tage,  yet  if  my  birthright  were  taken  from  me,  I 
would  fain  have  the  pottage  left.  So  I  scorn  with 
an  English  scorn  the  creole  thought  that  the  West 
Indian  slaves  are  better  off  than  the  poor  peasantry 
of  Britain ;  they  are  not  better  off,  nothing  like  it ; 
an  English  labourer  with  one  shirt  is  worth,  body 
and  soul,  ten  negro  slaves,  choose  them  where  you 
will.  But  it  is  nevertheless  a  certain  truth  that  the 
slaves  in  general  do  labour  much  less,  do  eat  and 
drink  much  more,  have  much  more  ready  money, 
dress  much  more  gaily,  and  are  treated  with  more 
kindness  and  attention,  when  sick,  than  nine-tenths 
of  all  the  people  of  Great  Britain  under  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  tradesmen,  farmers  and  domestic  servants. 
It  does  not  enter  into  my  head  to  speak  of  these 
things  as  constituting  an  equivalent,  much  less  a 
point  of  superiority,  to  the  hardest  shape  of  Eng¬ 
lish  freedom ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that,  where  Eng¬ 
lish  freedom  is  not  and  cannot  be,  these  things  may 
amount  to  a  very  consolatory  substitute  for  it.  I 
suspect  that  if  it  were  generally  known  that  the 
slaves  ate,  drank  and  slept  well,  and  were  beyond 
all  comparison  a  gayer,  smarter  and  more  familiar 
race  than  the  poor  of  this  kingdom,  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  their  labour  being  compulsory,  and  in 
some  measure  of  their  receiving  no  wages  for  it, 
would  not  very  painfully  affect  the  sympathies  of 
the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  African  Institution 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


279 


and  the  Anti-Slavery  Society.  I  say,  in  some  mea¬ 
sure  the  slaves  receive  no  wages,  because  no  money 
is  paid  to  them  on  that  score,  but  they  possess  ad¬ 
vantages  which  the  ordinary  wages  of  labour  in 
England  doubled  could  not  purchase.  The  slaves 
are  so  well  aware  of  the  comforts  which  they  enjoy 
under  a  master’s  purveyance  that  they  not  unfre- 
quently  forego  freedom  rather  than  be  deprived  of 
them.  A  slave  beyond  the  prime  of  life  will  hesitate 
to  accept  manumission.  Many  negros  in  Barbados, 
Grenada  and  Antigua  have  refused  freedom  when 
offered  to  them;  “what  for  me  want  free?  me 
have  good  massa,  good  country,  plenty  to  eat,  and 
when  me  sick,  massa’s  doctor  physic  me ;  me  no 
want  free,  no  not  at  all.”  A  very  fine  coloured  wo¬ 
man  in  Antigua,  who  had  been  manumitted  from 
her  youth,  came  to  Captain  Lyons,  on  whose  estate 
she  had  formerly  been  a  slave,  and  entreated  him  to 
cancel,  if  possible,  her  manumission,  and  receive 
her  again  as  a  slave.  “  Me  no  longer  young,  Sir, 
and  have  a  daughter  to  maintain !”  This  woman 
had  always  lived  by  common  prostitution,  a  pro¬ 
fession  which  usually  indisposes  for  labour,  and  yet 
she  was  importunate  to  return  to  slavery.  Surely 
she  must  have  known  the  nature  of  that  state  and 
the  contingencies  to  which  she  exposed  herself  by 
returning  to  it  at  least  as  well  as  any  gentleman 
in  England.  Every  one  who  has  been  in  Barbados 
knows,  as  I  have  said  before,  that  many  of  the 


280 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


wretched  white  creoles  live  on  the  charity  of  the 
slaves,  and  few  people  would  institute  a  comparison 
on  the  respectability  of  the  two  classes.  The 
lower  whites  of  that  island  are  without  exception 
the  most  degraded,  worthless,  hopeless  race  I  have 
ever  met  with  in  my  life.  They  are  more  pressing 
objects  for  legislation  than  the  slaves,  were  they  ten 
times  enslaved. 

I  know  perfectly  well  that  there  are  many  per¬ 
sons  scattered  throughout  our  numerous  colonies 
who  do  inwardly  cling  to  their  old  prejudices,  and 
very  likely  mourn  in  secret  over  the  actual  or  de¬ 
signed  reformations  of  the  present  day.  But  in 
almost  every  island  there  is  a  majority  of  better 
mind,  so  powerful  in  numbers  and  respectability 
that  it  not  only  puts  to  silence  men  of  the  ancient 
leaven,  but  even  compels  them,  through  fear  of 
shame,  to  become  the  ostensible  friends  of  amelio¬ 
ration.  Surely  there  is  nothing  extraordinary  in 
this ;  the  owners  of  estates  in  the  West  Indies  are 
a  changeable  body,  they  go  to  England,  they  visit 
the  United  States,  they  tour  in  Europe.  Is  it  ac¬ 
cording  even  to  the  most  unfavourable  estimate  of 
human  conduct,  that  a  youth  educated  at  Oxford 
or  Cambridge,  the  naval  or  military  officer  who 
has  retired  from  his  profession,  the  merchant,  the 
physician,  persons  of  whom  in  England  no  one 
would  dare  to  whisper  a  reproach,  should  one  and 
all,  as  soon  as  they  have  landed  in  Carlisle  Bay  or 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


281 


St.  John’s  Harbour,  be  transformed  at  once  into 
such  monsters  of  avarice  and  bloodthirstiness  that 
the  once  glorious  Wilberforce  could  not  find  any 
pity  for  them,  if  they  were  all  stabbed  at  night  by 
black  men  on  their  pillows  of  slumber? 

Coelum,  non  animum,  mutant  qui  trans  mare  currunt, 
says  Horace;  but  Horace,  as  Mr.  Stephen  knows, 
had  slaves  himself,  and  upon  one  occasion  argued 
that  he  had  worthily  rewarded  one  of  them  for  an 
honest  and  industrious  course  of  life  by  not  cruci¬ 
fying  him  for  crows’  meat.  So  wc  will  give  up 
little  Horace. 

But  slavery  creates  the  change :  slavery  infects 
the  air  which  they  breathe  and  the  soil  which  they 
tread ;  slavery  hardens  their  hearts  and  darkens 
their  understandings!  True;  slavery  did  all  this 
formerly,  does  so  sometimes  now,  and  has  a  natu¬ 
ral  tendency  to  do  as  much  always.  Then  slavery 
is  a  bad  system  ?  To  be  sure — a  very  bad  system  ; 
who  says  it  is  a  good  one  ?  Certainly  none  of  the 
planters  with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  and  most  cer¬ 
tainly  not  the  author  of  this  book.  But  are  temp¬ 
tations  never  resisted,  nay  sometimes  dared  and 
conquered  and  made  the  vantage  ground  of  virtue  ? 
Is  not  this  the  case  with  temptations  even  more 
seductive  to  human  weakness  than  starving  a  man 
who  gives  me  bread,  and  lashing  a  woman  who 
stoops  and  sweats  to  do  me  service  ?  Consider  the 
subject,  Gentlemen  of  the  Instituion,  with  a  mo- 
25 


282 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


merit’s  calmness.  Make  a  few  analogies  with  your¬ 
selves.  Put  off  the  accusing  spirit  for  a  day,  and 
cry  Hush!  to  the  devil  of  party  which  distracts 
the  natural  rectitude  of  your  hearts.  You  have 
gained  a  great  notoriety  with  moderate  talents  and 
much  declamation  ;  you  have  succeeded  by  appeal¬ 
ing  with  assiduity  to  the  easily  entreated  sympathies 
of  the  human,  of  the  English,  of  the  female  bo¬ 
som  ;  you  have  talked  of  Christianity  with  some 
who  scantily  believe  in  Christ,  you  have  spoken 
when  you  could  not  be  answered,  and  have  really 
condescended  to  soothe  your  ears,  which  were  yet 
tingling  with  the  coughing  of  men,  with  the  soft 
applause  of  that  delicate  fraction  of  the  ladies  of 
the  Metropolis  who  frequent  your  tavern  in  Queen 
Street, — 

From  Hop  and  Mop  and  Drap  so  clear, 

Rip  and  Trip  and  Skip  that  were 
To  Mrs.  Mob  their  sovereign  dear 
Her  special  maids  of  honour  ; 

And  at  the  bottom  of  the  Hall, 

From  Tib  and  Nib  and  Pink  and  Pin, 

Tick  and  Quick  and  Jill  and  Jin, 

Tit  and  Nit  and  Wap  and  Win, 

The  train  that  wait  upon  her. 

You  say  the  planters  have  gross  prejudices,  and 
defend  them  in  the  face  of  reason  and  justice! 
They  do  so,  though  I  hope  and  indeed  think  they 
are  shaking  them  off  gradually.  The  planters  are 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


283 


acrimonious  !  They  are,  for  they  are  mortal  men. 
The  system  should  be  abolished !  Pardon  me ; 
hardly  at  present,  I  think. 

The  question  lies  between  our  fingers.  We  all 
profess  an  intention  of  ameliorating  the  condition 
of  the  slaves,  and  a  wish  to  raise  them  ultimately 
to  an  equality  with  the  rest  of  the  citizens  of  the 
empire.  The  dispute  is  about  the  means.  Now 
unless  we  are  infatuated  by  the  mere  sound  of  a 
word,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  power  of 
doing  whatsoever  a  man  pleases,  if  unaccompanied 
with  some  moral  stimulus  which  shall  insure  habit¬ 
ual  industry  and  correct  the  profligate  propensities 
of  savage  nature,  is  so  far  from  being  a  step  in 
advance  that  it  is  rather  a  stride  backwards  ;  in¬ 
stead  of  being  a  blessing  it  is  plainly  a  curse.  The 
body  of  the  slave  population  do  not  at  present  pos¬ 
sess  this  moral  stimulus.  Emancipation  therefore 
would  not  put  them  in  the  road  to  become  good 
citizens* 

What  must  be  done  then  ?  Manifestly  this  one 
single  thing ;  we  must  create  a  moral  cause  in  order 
to  be  able  to  abolish  the  physical  cause  of  labour ; 
we  must  bring  the  motives  which  induce  an  English 
rustic  to  labour  to  bear  upon  the  negro ;  when  the 
negro  peasant  will  work  regularly  like  the  white 
peasant,  then  he  ought  to  be  as  free. 

How  are  we  to  originate  this  moral  stimulus  ? 
By  various  means. 


234 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


I.  By  education ; — that  is  to  say,  by  teaching 
every  child  to  read  ;  by  providing  Bibles  and  Prayer- 
books  at  moderate  prices ;  by  building  or  enlarging 
churches,  or  increasing  the  times  of  service,  so  that 
every  one  may  be  able  to  worship  in  the  great  con¬ 
gregation  once  at  least  on  the  Sunday. 

II.  By  amending  the  details  of  existing  slavery  ; 
that  is  to  say,  by  thoroughly  expurgating  the  colo¬ 
nial  codes,  by  enacting  express  laws  of  protection 
for  the  slaves,  by  reforming  the  judicatures,  by  ad¬ 
mitting  the  competency  of  slave  evidence ;  by  abo¬ 
lishing  Sunday  markets  at  all  events ;  by  introduc¬ 
ing  task-work ;  by  declaring  females  free  from  cor¬ 
poral  punishment, 

HI.  By  allowing  freedom  to  be  purchased  at  the 
market  price. 

To  the  evidence  of  slaves  and  the  purchase  of 
freedom  there  is  great  opposition.  My  excellent 
friend  Mr.  Coulthurst,  who  once  entertained  an 
opinion  in  favour  of  the  first,  was  so  shocked  at  the 
mass  of  perjury  which  it  seemed  to  occasion  that  he 
now  more  than  doubts  the  propriety  of  its  admission. 
The  answer  is  twofold ;  first,  that  the  evil  will  de¬ 
crease  every  day  in  proportion  to  the  advance  of 
education,  and  second,  that  it  is  necessary  to  con¬ 
fer  by  anticipation  certain  privileges  on  the  slave  in 
order  to  give  room  to  his  mind  to  expand,  and  to 
propose  a  bounty  to  good  conduct  by  stimulating  his 
endeavours  to  add  personal  credibility  to  his  legal 
competency. 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


285 


A  right  to  purchase  freedom  I  consider  to  be  of 
supreme  importance.  I  do  not  wish  the  price  to  be 
low ;  on  the  contrary  it  should  be  so  high  as  to 
render  the  attainment  of  freedom  a  difficult  task. 
It  should  demand  industry  and  long  habits  of  tem¬ 
perance;  it  should  be  so  rated  that,  in  ordinary 
cases,  no  slave  could  obtain  it  without  a  certainty 
of  having  passed  through  that  probation  which  alone 
can  render  it  a  blessing  to  him.  As  long  as  there  is 
no  such  right,  the  other  means  of  improvement 
must  lose  half  of  their  efficacy,  because  they  are 
deprived  of  almost  the  whole  of  their  object.  Set 
up  the  statue  of  liberty  in  the  perspective,  however 
distant,  and  all  that  is  good  and  honest  and  spiritual 
in  the  slave,  whether  inborn  or  implanted,  will  im¬ 
mediately  find  scope  and  develope  vigor  in  the  vir¬ 
tuous  pilgrimage  to  her  shrine.  The  chaplet  which 
the  slave  shall  win  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  will  be 
laurel  to  his  ambition,  and  nepenthe  to  his  fatigue. 

The  emancipations  consequent  on  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  this  right  would  of  necessity  be  hardly  earn¬ 
ed,  and  therefore  probably  accompanied  by  strength 
and  sobriety  of  character.  The  evils  contingent  on 
a  sudden  revolution  would  be  wholly  avoided ;  the 
slave  would  only  cease  to  labour  by  compulsion, 
when  he  had  become  willing  to  labour  for  hire ;  he 
would  in  short  in  most  cases  continue  bond  till  he 
had  proved  himself  fit  to  be  free.  The  individual 
freedmen,  unconnected  with  each  other,  would 
25* 


286 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


form  no  combinations — would  constitute  no  distinct 
class,  but  would  sink  into  the  mass  of  the  rest  of  the 
society,  and  assume  its  feelings  as  they  had  obtained 
its  privileges.  The  Spanish  slave,  if  I  mistake  not, 
has  for  a  long  time  possessed  a  right  of  purchasing 
emancipation,  and  it  is  probable  that  to  this  chiefly 
amongst  other  causes  has  been  owing  the  superior 
tranquillity  of  the  impnense  countries  of  America  for¬ 
merly  belonging  to  the  crown  of  Castile.  From 
the  days  of  Las  Casas,*  who  originated  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  negros  into  America,  to  the  present  there 
have  been  fewer  servile  insurrections  in  the  Spanish 
colonies  than  have  taken  place  in  the  British  West 
Indies  within  the  last  thirty  years. 

*  Mr.  Southey  calls  Las  Casas  the  Clarkson  of  his 
age,  which  is  calling  the  Father  of  the  Slave  Trade  by 
the  name  of  the  Abolisher  of  it.  If  Mr.  Clarkson’s 
knowledge  of  history  be  half  as  deep  as  Mr.  Southey’s, 
he  must  be  something  puzzled  at  the  compliment.  I 
am  quite  sure  that  the  excellent  historian  of  Brazil  never 
meant  to  commend  the  stealing  and  transporting  of  black 
men  in  order  to  ease  the  shoulders  of  yellow  men. 
The  fact  is,  this  bishop  of  Chiapa,  like  many  well 
meaning  persons  of  the  present  day,  having  fixed  his 
eyes  intently  on  a  good  object  in  the  distance,  became 
blind  to  the  obstacles  which  hindered  its  attainment. 
He  perpetuated  an  atrocious  present  crime  that  a  future 
good  might  come,  and  he  was  deceived  as  usual.  There 
are  also  persons  in  these  days  who  are  not  well  mean¬ 
ing,  who  have  sold  men,  women,  and  children,  at  pub¬ 
lic  outcry,  put  the  money  in  their  pockets,  and  then , 
mark  me !  gone  and  set  down  their  names  to  an  anti¬ 
slavery  society.  The  cause  of  course  remains  the  same, 
— but  the  men,  the  men  ! 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


287 


Before  I  lay  down  my  pen  upon  this  interesting 
subject,  I  will  venture  to  give  a  word  of  advice  to 
the  Planters.  I  speak  with  no  assumption  of  supe¬ 
riority,  in  no  tone  of  indifference  to  their  difficul¬ 
ties,  in  no  spirit  of  party  whatever.  I  only  wish 
them  to  view  their  case  aright.  I  am  only  anxious 
that  they  should  not  ruin  themselves  and  their  de¬ 
pendents  by  a  misconception  of  the  strength  and 
bearings  of  their  position.  They  know  that  the  un¬ 
measured  abuse  of  themselves  by  their  enemies  in 
England  has  really  operated  to  their  advantage  by 
its  apparent  injustice ;  they  should  also  remember 
that  the  contemptible  scurrilities  of  their  newspa¬ 
per  editors  must  for  the  same  reasons  have  a  simi¬ 
lar  effect  to  the  detriment  of  their  own  cause.  To 
be  ever  talking  of  Saint  Macauly  and  Saint  Buxton 
is  an  argument  of  nothing  but  weakness  in  those 
who  so  speak;  that  it  disgusts  the  moderation  of 
the  English  nation  they  may  be  assured. 

Personal  slavery,  though  familiar  to  the  ancient 
laws  of  England, is  now  hateful  to  every  Englishman, 
and  justly  so,  because,  independently  of  its  wrong¬ 
fulness,  it  is  a  state  disadvantageous  to  the  general 
welfare  of  mankind.  The  practical  details  which 
soften  its  pains  and  occasionally  neutralized  its  evil 
consequences  are  known  only  to  a  few,  and  a  con¬ 
viction  of  the  necessity  of  its  limited  continuance 
is  the  result  of  patient  investigation  alone.  The 
untravelled  feelings  of  our  nature  are  arrayed 


288 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


against  it';  declamation  is  popular  in  the  mouths  of 
its  enemies  and  Liberty  is  the  thrilling  keynote  to 
all  their  song.  But  the  present  government  of  this 
country  is  a  wise  government ;  it  is  informed  and 
temperate ;  it  withstands  and  will  not  cease  to  with¬ 
stand  the  blind  effusions  of  compassion  as  well  as 
the  malignant  suggestions  of  faction.  Yet  its  pa¬ 
tience  must  not  be  mistaken  for  apathy,  nor  its 
moderation  for  partiality.  The  British  Executive 
is  neither  agent  nor  advocate  of  any  party,  and 
when  it  ultimately  moves  itself,  I  believe  it  will  be 
acknowledged  that  as  its  deliberations  have  been 
long,  its  language  will  be  firm  and  its  march  straight 
forward. 

There  is  abroad  in  the  world,  but  more  especially 
in  Great  Britain,  an  unprecedented  activity  of  mind. 
We  may  neither  fight,  write,  sing  or  pray  better  than 
our  ancestors,  but  we  are  much  better  informed. 
Principles  which  Bacon  knew  not,  and  Rights  which 
Sidney  would  have  trampled  upon,  are  now  the 
theme  of  the  tales  of  childhood,  are  learnt  from  a 
nurse’s  lips  or  associated  with  the  tones  of  a  mo¬ 
ther’s  voice.  Knowledge  made  us  free ;  F reedom 
increased  our  knowledge ;  both  together  have  made 
us  what  we  are,  the  first  of  the  world.  As  wise,  as 
free,  as  Englishmen  we  obey  the  impulse  of  our  na¬ 
ture  in  striving  to  raise  all  mankind  to  a  level  with 
ourselves.  We  say  the  king’s  commission  should 
in  all  places  import  equality  of  protection,  that  jus- 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES.  289 

tice  should  in  the  East  and  West  plant  the  staff,  and 
a  charter  lie  in  the  wavings  of  our  Union. 

To  this  national  feeling  the  Colonists  must  be 
respectful.  It  is  too  virtuous  to  be  hurt  by  insinua¬ 
tion,  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  by  violence.  The 
slaves  will  not  be  emancipated  with  dangerous  ab¬ 
ruptness,  but  they  must  be  educated  and  effectually 
secured  from  the  possible  effects  of  caprice.  The 
termination  of  slavery  may  be  remote,  but  the  pro¬ 
cess  of  enfranchisement  must  begin  as  to  day.  I 
write  this  after  a  patient  study  of  the  times,  and  the 
planters  who  now  live  will  find  the  assertion  veri¬ 
fied. 

I  criminate  no  man’s  intentions ;  1  acknowledge 
real  difficulties ;  I  am  compassionate  to  hereditary 
prejudices.  But  there  I  stop  ;  for  compassion  be¬ 
comes  party  when  prejudice  degenerates  into  obsti¬ 
nacy.  There  art  parts  in  the  West  Indian  system 
which  no  plea  of  necessity  can  justify.  Why  should 
the  planters  refuse  to  change  them?  Few  put 
them  in  execution,  the  majority  condemn  them, 
none  profit  by  them.  Why  should  a  man  who  will 
not  beat  a  woman  himself,  be  loth  to  secure  a  wo¬ 
man  from  being  beaten  by  others  ?  Why  should  a 
man,  who  is  just  himself,  deny  the  resource  of  pub¬ 
lic  justice  to  those  beneath  him  ?  How  can  the 
Christian,  who  prays  for  the  improvement  of  all 
mankind,  block  up  the  inlets  to  the  spiritual  regene¬ 
ration  of  the  coloured  men  around  his  house  ?  Why 


290 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


should  he  wish  to  do  so  ?  What  does  he  fear  ?  In¬ 
surrections  ?  It  is  not  knowledge,  but  uncertainty, 
which  does  and  will  beget  commotion;  it  is  not 
Reading  and  Writing,  but  the  forbidden  desire  of 
Reading  and  Writing;  not  the  Light,  but  glimpses 
of  the  Light  withholden  from  them,  which  inflict 
the  torments  and  inspire  the  frenzy  of  Tantalus. 

I  exhort  the  colonists  to  consider  their  situation, 
the  merits  of  the  question,  the  state  of  national 
opinion,  the  relative  strength  of  the  parties.  Let 
them  not  stand  too  nicely  on  the  theory  of  their  in¬ 
dependence  ;  well  compacted  as  it  may  appear,  it 
could  never  sustain  collision  with  a  mighty  oppo¬ 
site.  If  Great  Britain  should  be  once  provoked  to 
anger,  the  rights  of  the  colonists  would  be  burst 
like  the  withs  on  the  arms  of  the  Nazarite,  and  be 
consumed  before  the  kindling  of  her  displeasure 
like  tow  in  the  fire.  There  is  but  one  way  by  which 
the  interference  of  Parliament  may  be  avoided,  and 
that  is  by  anticipating  it.  If  the  colonists  prize 
their  independence,  let  them  not  hazard  it  by  oppo¬ 
sing,  but  insure  it  by  themselves  executing,  that 
which  will  otherwise  infallibly  be  done  for  them. 
This  is  no  question  for  scholastic  dispute,  or  for 
conference  between  the  Houses ;  the  planters  must 
look  at  it  as  men  of  business,  and  take  thought,  not 
so  much  of  what  ought  to,  as  of  what  will,  be  done  ? 
not  so  much  of  nonsuiting  a  plaintiff,  as  of  resisting 
a  forcible  entry. 


PLANTERS  AND  SLAVES. 


291 


The  British  Government  asks  nothing  dangerous, 
nothing  which  may  not  be  granted  with  the  most 
apparent  advantage  to  the  planters  themselves.  It 
asks  for  substantial  education  and  substantial  pro¬ 
tection  of  the  slaves,  and  a  smooth  road  towards 
ultimate  emancipation.  My  solemn  opinion  is  that 
so  far  from  these  three  demands  being  pregnant  with 
hazard,  the  very  existence  of  the  colonies  depends 
upon  their  being  heartily  admitted.  If  the  philoso¬ 
phy  of  man,  and  past  and  present  experience  do 
not  deceive  us,  it  may  be  confidently  predicted  that 
the  West  Indian  Islands  cannot  continue  for  twenty 
years  longer  in  the  state  in  which  they  now  are. 
There  are  mementos  of  insecurity  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left,  and  many  deep  thoughts  will  rise 
unbidden  in  a  statesman’s  mind  when  he  muses  on 
the  prophecy  of  Berkley. 

Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  its  way  : 

The  four  first  acts  already  past — 

A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  ;  — 

Time’s  noblest  offspring  is  his  last. 


THE  END. 


On  the  8th  August,  ten  turtles,  a  negro  youth 
and  myself  embarked  on  board  the  good  ship  For¬ 
titude  laden  with  slave-grown  sugar  and  molasses 
and  bound  to  London.  With  many  a  thought  on 
the  bright  eyes  of  St.  George  and  the  graceful  form 
of  Uptonia,  with  many  a  hearty  squeeze  of  the 
hand  from  kind  men  and  true,  and  many  a  good¬ 
bye  from  my  black,  brown  and  copper-coloured 
fellow  subjects,  I  bade  an  eternal  farewell  to 
Barbados.  In  it  I  ate,  drank,  laughed,  danced  and 
perspired  as  much  as  ever  I  expect  to  do  again  in 
the  short  remainder  of  my  life.  We  weighed 
anchor  at  one  p.  m.,  the  wind  gently  blowing  us 
along  from  the  south,  the  sun  right  over  the  mast¬ 
head,  and  the  sea  as  blue  as  the  unclouded  ether. 
The  night  closed  in  when  we  were  off  the  northern 
end  of  the  island  ;  the  next  morning  and  for  six 
weeks  afterwards  it  was 

- nil  nisi  pontus  et  aer. 

A  dead  calm  for  five  days  in  the  horse  latitudes, 
a  heavy  and  continued  gale  off  the  Bank,  our  fore- 


THE  END. 


293 


top-gallaut  mast  carried  away  at  night,  some  shat¬ 
tered  Yankee  schooners  who  always  asked  us  how 
far  west  we  reckoned  ourselves,  a  Dutchman  who 
would  not  speak  to  us  and  a  Frenchman  who  would, 
a  man  of  war  who  kept  us  waiting  for  an  hour 
and  then  went  about  her  business  without  being 
commonly  civil,  flying  fish,  dying  dolphins,  a  quail, 
a  flight  of  swallows  when  we  were  a  thousand  miles 
from  any  land,  and  flocks  of  gannets  on  the  edge  of 
soundings,  were  the  events  of  the  voyage  till  we 
bought  butter  and  potatoes  from  the  Scilly  mari¬ 
ners  of  St.  Mary’s  Isle. 

It  was  heavy  work  sometimes  certainly,  but  the 
Captain  gave  us  good  mutton,  porter,  claret  and 
champagne,  and  I  had  Shakspeare  to  read  and  this 
incomparable  book  of  mine  own  to  write.  Once  a 
day  I  tormented  the  turtles,  then  I  nursed  a  kitten 
which  was  born  at  the  foot  of  the  fore-mast,  tried  to 
get  an  English  and  a  Barbadian  pig  to  feed  from  the 
same  pail,  which  1  found  to  be  impossible,  made  up 
my  mind  that  poetical  dolphins  only  change  colours, 
climbed  the  mizen  backstay,  and  talked  politics  with 
Hammond  the  mate,  a  freeman  of  Yarmouth  and  a 
Whig,  who  hoped  he  shouldibe  able  to  turn  a  penny 
before  the  next  voyage.  However  the  protracted 
existence  of  this  Parliament  will  put  that  out  of  the 
question. 

I  am  derheumatized.  Whether  I  ate,  drank  or 
sweated  it  out,  I  cannot  say  5  but  the  fact  is,  I  am 
26 


294 


THE  END. 


well  and  flexible  in  all  my  limbs,  and  if  the  West 
Indies  cured  me,  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  the 
W est  Indies  for  the  favour. 

Life  in  the  West  Indies  has  its  pleasures  and 
pains,  like  opium.  The  former  are  drinking  porter 
and  having  common  of  turtle  sans  stint  et  sans 
nombre  ;  the  latter  are  perspiration,  mosquitos,  and 
the  yawny-drawly  way  in  which  the  men  converse* 

But  God  bless  thee,  England,  and  crown  thee 
with  blessings,  thou  glorious  land  of  my  fathers! 
When  I  saw  the  two  broad  lights  on  the  black 
Lizard  again,  my  heart  swelled  with  that  uncon¬ 
querable  passion  which  I  used  to  feel  on  returning 
from  a  distant  school  and  springing  into  my  dear 
mother’s  arms.  O  my  country,  I  have  no  pride 
but  that  I  belong  to  thee,  and  can  write  my  name 
in  the  muster  roll  of  mankind,  an  Englishman.  If 
thou  wert  ten  times  more  cloudy,  and  rainy  and 
bleak,  I  should  still  prefer  thy  clouds  and  thy  storms 
to  the  spicy  gardens  of  the  Orient.  Away  with 
the  morbid  coxcomb  who  could  rail  against  thy 
reverend  front,  and  dream  away  his  life  in  the  land 
of  effeminacy,  emasculation  and  vice!  For  with 
thee  is  Peace,  and  Knowledge  and  Liberty  and 
Power;  with  thee  Home  is  honoured,  Man  protect¬ 
ed  and  God  worshipped  in  truth.  It  is  good,  very 
good  for  us  to  be  Here. 


THE  END. 


W-S/W? 


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